Halcyon Days
by Scotchtape27
Summary: Looking back on those days, I realize that they were some of the happiest years in my life. I had some great adventures as well as a great family, and the time that I spent with them will always be one of my fondest memories. I, am Naruto Uzumaki, the student of Minato Namikaze and a proud member of Fairy Tail. And this, is my story.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I've returned once more. Sorry about the surprise hiatus, but life got really hectic these past few months. Now that the obligatory apology out of the way, please enjoy.**

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail.

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"_It's nice to actually have some peace and quiet for a change." _I thought to myself as I sat at the bar contentedly while waiting for Mirajane to bring me my order of ramen. I closed my eyes as I basked in the warmth that was Fairy Tail feeling one of my few fleeting moments of happiness ever since—

"_No." _I forcibly halted my train of thought before shifting my attention to something else, anything to keep me from recalling—that.

Thankfully, it was at that moment that the doors to the guild were forcibly thrown open, drawing my attention immediately. As I looked towards the entrance I immediately noticed Natsu and Happy who began to storm into the room.

Well, so much for peace and quiet.

My attention was then drawn to the unknown blonde female that was accompanying them, due to the keys that were attached to her belt I correctly assumed that she was a celestial spirit mage. She appeared awestruck by the guild and stared out across the room with wide eyes.

"We're home!" Natsu yelled instantly drawing the attention of the entire room to himself.

"Natsu, Happy, welcome back." Mirajane greeted happily.

"You overdid it again." one of the guild members, his name escapes me at the moment, directed at Natsu while his friends laughed at him, " I read about the Hargeon incident in the newspa..." he trailed off as he noticed Natsu's sandaled foot flying towards his face at high-speed.

"Bastard!" Natsu screamed as he sent the man soaring with a flying kick, "That info you gave me about Salamander was fake!" Natsu's attack set off a chain reaction causing the entire room to become engulfed in a full-blown bar-fight.

"_Leave it to Natsu to turn the guild into a miniature battleground in a matter of seconds." _I turned back towards the bar hoping that the conflict might go away if I simply ignored it.

Oh how wrong I was.

"My," I heard Mirajane comment casually, "now that Natsu is back, the guild might be torn apart soon."

"It's already being torn apart!" someone else screamed in response.

Just about everything else was drowned out by the ever-growing turmoil brewing behind me. I continuously heard the telltale crack of wood being broken, presumably sending splinters flying everywhere.

Thankfully I had yet to be hit by any shrapnel—or flying guild members.

The key word of that phrase being yet.

"Did you say Natsu is back?!" a voice, that I recognized as Gray's. I didn't even need to turn around to tell that he was, once again, wearing nothing aside from his boxers.

"Hey! Let's settle our fight from the last time!" My suspicions were confirmed when I heard a loud clang as the new girl's jaw hit the floor in surprise.

"Gray..."Cana spoke while taking a short break from constantly guzzling beer and other various forms of alcohol, "have you been walking around like that?"

"Ack!" Gray screamed in frustration and surprise as he realized he wasn't wearing any pants causing me to smirk ever so slightly beneath my mask, "Shit!"

"Another one of those undignified guys...that I really hate." she sighed exasperatedly before beginning to, hypocritically, guzzle beer straight from the keg.

There was another loud clang as someone's, I assumed it was the new girl again, jaw hit the floor.

"Heeeey! Natsu! Fight me!" Gray screamed in the distance.

"Come back after you're dressed." Natsu replied.

"What rubbish," Elfman muttered in disgust, "yapping in the middle of the day. You're not little kids you know..." he paused to take a breath before continuing, "so fight with fists to show you manhood!" he yelled towards Natsu and Gray who were in the middle of their own fight.

"So it all comes down to fighting after all..." the new girl stated exasperatedly.

"Get outta the way!" Natsu and Gray screamed in unison before shutting Elfman up forcibly.

"And he got owned!" the new—forget this, her name is Lucy—screeched.

"Hrm?" Loki questioned while, I assume (considering that I was still trying to ignore the proceedings going on behind me at this point), two girls hung off of his shoulders, "It's so noisy here."

"Ahh!," Lucy gasped in surprise, "The top ranked 'Mage You Want to Have as Your Boyfriend'!"

"I'll go join their fight!" he exclaimed before running off to do just that.

"None of them are normal..." Lucy despaired.

It was at this point that I was forcibly dragged into chaos that is Fairy Tail whenever Natsu is around. Hearing a slight whooshing noise, that indicated something—or someone—was flying towards me at high speeds, I ducked just in time to narrowly avoid a man who went flying behind the bar.

Before I even stood up, my mind began to race as it quickly formulated a stream of curses and expletives that would give any sailor pause. I rose up off of my bar stool as my temper flared and spun around to face my fellow guild members. My eyes quickly scanned the room in an attempt to figure out just who the hell had sent a ballistic thirty-five year old man straight at my head. I sucked in a huge breath to make sure that I didn't have to pause mid-rant. The tidal wave of curse words I had come up with threatened to pour forth and I opened my mouth to let them flood the entire guildhall.

And I was promptly shut up by a flying thirty-six year old to the face.

Wakaba slammed into me at what had to be at least twenty to thirty miles per hour sending both of us behind the bar. There was a loud crash as we slammed into the wall accompanied by the sound of shattering glass, but, by some miracle, I managed to not get cut by the numerous shards of glass that were crushed by my back.

Well, by miracle I really mean the sleeveless undershirt that I wear which extends upwards to cover the lower half of my face that's covered in more protective runes than you could count. Which is why my back was still in one piece despite crushing a good twenty or so bottles of liquor.

I was dazed slightly, but who wouldn't be dazed after taking a surprise grown man to the face? Despite this, I still managed to come to my senses before Wakaba did and I immediately shoved him off of me.

I hurdled over the bar while screaming, "Who the hell threw Wakaba!"

Immediately after those words escaped my lips I had to dodge yet another flung guild member.

After a quick evasive maneuver I glanced over and saw that he had been thrown by none other than, you guessed it, Natsu. People were, stupidly, attempting to get involved with Gray and Natsu's fight and would promptly get sent flying for interrupting.

Ignoring the cries of those poor saps, I began to weave through the throng of people to reach Natsu and Gray who had tumbled into the center of the mass of people. Within a few moments I had successfully navigated through the mass of bodies and began to exact my vengeance.

"NNNNAAAAAATTTTTTSSSSUUUUUUU!" I screamed in absolute fury as I sprinted towards him.

"Wha?" he looked up in slight surprise just in time to get blasted in the face by my foot. Natsu was sent flying and I immediately gave chase while Gray screamed at me for interrupting his fight.

Natsu tumbled across the ground before skidding to a stop and quickly rose before charging at me with his fist raised. A loud battle cry thundered forth as he swung wildly at me but I easily ducked under his sloppy haymaker. My left fist found its way into his gut knocking the wind out of his lungs and lifting him off of his feet. I immediately followed up with a right and another left before launching a massive right cross.

There was a loud crack as my fist slammed into his jawbone sending Natsu tumbling away once more, I immediately pursued and leapt high into the air while pulling back my fist for another strike. Natsu's eyes widened as he saw me falling rapidly towards him and rolled out of the way of my punch which managed to splinter the floor boards slightly.

He jumped up and charged at me while I was still crouched on the ground. I stood up quickly and readied myself for Natsu's charge. Learning his lesson from earlier, instead of throwing a wild haymaker Natsu threw a quick, but still ridiculously strong, right straight that was headed directly for my face.

I grabbed Natsu's arm while falling backwards to dodge the blow and pulled him down with me. Utilizing the momentum I rolled onto my back before kicking Natsu squarely in the gut launching him over me and into the air.

I jumped up and turned to face Natsu who had just recovered from my sacrifice throw and was glaring at me angrily. Suddenly his fists caught aflame signalling that things had been kicked up a notch.

"Let's go Naruto!" Natsu screamed as he sprinted towards me raising his fists once more. I silently began readying my magic as Natsu charged towards me while noticing that all around me people were doing the same.

"Cut it out you fools!" a deep voice, that I recognized as Makarov's, bellowed across the room as he towered above me and everyone else in the room. I shoved my hands into my pockets and began heading back to the bar. Natsu could keep fighting if he wanted to, but I really didn't feel like getting flattened by Makarov.

"He's humongous!" Lucy screeched in surprise as she stared up at him.

Apparently, the rest of the guild was thinking the same thing as me, and immediately all fighting halted as everyone was cowed by Makarov.

Everyone, but Natsu.

Natsu grinned widely before bursting out in laughter, "You all got so scared! This match is my win!—Gah!" he was cut off as Makarov purposely stepped on the Dragon Slayer to shut him up.

"Mu?" he questioned, "A newcomer?"

"Y-yes." Lucy stuttered nervously.

The old man began shrinking back to his normal size as he deactivated his Titan magic and I plugged my ears for what was surely to follow.

"Whhhaaaatttt!?" she screeched. Once she was done screaming I unplugged my ears.

"Nice to meet you." he stated while waving politely before suddenly taking a tremendous flipping leap towards the second level. He accidentally smacked the back of his head against the railing, causing me to smirk slightly, before pulling himself up to stand on the railing.

"You've done it again, fools." he called out while waving the papers in his hands for all to see, "Look at these documents I received from the council." He looked down at the papers before continuing, "First—Gray."

"Huh?"

"Good job on sweeping out the smuggling organization, but you walked around town naked afterwards—and ran away after stealing underwear that was being dried."

"But wouldn't it be worse if I was naked?" Gray grumbled.

"Then don't be naked in the first place." Elfman, replied.

"Elfman!" Makarov shouted, "You had a job to escort a VIP but you assaulted him during the mission."

"He said 'men are all about education,' so—" Elfman mumbled while sheepishly scratching his chin.

"Cana Alberona, drinking fifteen big barrels of alcohol, and charging it to the council."

"They found out—" she grumbled to herself while looking slightly ashamed.

"Loki—flirting with council member Elder Reiji's granddaughter. A certain talent agency has also charged us for damage compensation, too. And Natsu—" Makarov began while hanging his head in exasperation, " You destroyed the Devon Thief Family, but also destroyed 7 other houses that belong to the townspeople—levelled a historic clock tower in Tully Village. Burned down a church in Freesia, damaged parts of Lupinus castle, and Nazuna Ravine observatory collapsed forcing it to stop its top of that, you destroyed half of Hargeon's port. Alzack. Levy. Kulov. Reedus. Warren. Bisca. Etc. The only person who hasn't pissed off the council is Naruto!" Makarov shouted while pointing directly at me as I sat on a bar stool, "Guys," Makarov stated seriously, "the council members are angry at me all the time..." everyone in the room looked at the floor guiltily as he continued, "but—forget about the council members." he told us as he burned the papers in his hand.

"Eh?" Lucy gasped in surprise as Makarov tossed the burning papers aside which were quickly gobbled up by Natsu.

"Listen up. The power to overcome reasoning is born from reasoning. Magic is not a miracle. When the 'spirit' flow within us and the 'spirit' flow within nature connects, they will form an embodiment for the first time. You will need a strong mentality and a lot of concentration for that. I mean, pouring all of your soul into whatever you do is the magic." Makarov grinned widely before continuing with a proud smile on his face, "If you keep worrying about the watchful eyes of the higher-ups, your magic won't improve. Do not fear the fools of the council. Do whatever you think is right!" Makarov shouted with his hands outstretched as the rest of the guild cheered in response, "That's the way of the Fairy Tail mages!"

The entire guildhall was filled with laughter and cheering as everyone began celebrating once more while I sat silently at the bar basking in the warm atmosphere once more.

* * *

The rest of the day passed uneventfully and the atmosphere of the building began to, slowly, calm down.

By Fairy Tail standards at least.

I stood leaning up against the wall near the bar nonchalantly with a mug of ale in my hands as Lucy joined the ranks of Fairy Tail. I raised the mug to my lips to take a small sip as I noticed Romeo, Macao's son, running across the room towards Makarov's current spot on the bar.

"Is my daddy back yet?" the small boy questioned.

"Mu. You're annoying Romeo." Makarov replied with his eyes closed, "If you are the son of a mage, be a good boy, and wait for him at home."

"He said he'd come back in three days," Romeo responded while starting to cry, "but it's been a week since then."

It was at this point that I became concerned about Macao's well-being. I had been gone on a job and had just gotten back that morning, so his unexplained absence was news to me.

"Macao's job is at Mt. Hakobe isn't it?" someone chimed in.

"It's not that far either!"

"Please look for him!" Romeo pleaded, "I'm worried about him!"

And it was at this point that I decided that someone should do something. I quickly downed my drink before slamming the cup forcefully onto the bar and pushing myself off the wall I had been leaning against.

"No Way!" Makarov shouted angrily, "Your dad is a mage! We have no mage here who can't take care of himself! Go home and drink your milk or something!"

Romeo glanced down at the ground with tears in his eyes while clenching his fists angrily before he jumped up and punched Makarov square in the face. "Idiot!" Romeo screamed before running off crying.

"It's very strict here isn't it?" I heard Lucy ask as I began heading for the door.

"Master is like that," Mirajane responded, "but he's worried about Macao too."

There was a loud crunch behind me as Natsu put the job request he had taken back on the board in a—forceful manner.

"Hey!" Nab shouted as Natsu walked away seriously and eventually fell into step beside me, "Natsu! Don't break the request board!" Natsu completely ignored the man as he grabbed his pack from beside one of the tables and fell into step next to me as I shoved my hands into my pockets. Natsu and I both exited the guild in utter silence, we had known each other long enough that we both knew just what the other intended to do without having to ask.

And, in all honesty, it was pretty easy to figure out what the other intended to do anyways.

Both of us had lost the person that we considered our father when we were younger and—well—we weren't going to let anyone else go through the same hell that we did if we could help it. Especially if that person was the son of one our guildmates.

I don't know about other mage guilds, but here at Fairy Tail we're not just a guild. We're a family. And we look out for our own, no matter the risk.

On a side note, it was apparently during this time that Mirajane explained Natsu's past to Lucy and just why it was that Natsu and I had acted the way we had. When I had learned of this, I was extremely glad that I had decided to mostly keep my past to myself. I'm not exactly keen on the idea of people who haven't even been in the guild for more than a day knowing my past and my motivations.

In my opinion, the less people know about my past, the better. It's a lot easier to put it behind me that way.

On a happier side note, I slightly regret that I never got to see the expression on Lucy's face when she found out that Natsu had been raised by a dragon.  
Natsu and I strode down the central road of Magnolia purposefully as we quickly closed the distance between ourselves and Romeo. I activated my Requip magic obscuring my body in a cloud of white smoke. It was underneath this cover that my clothing changed into something that was more—appropriate for combat. A leather breastplate with no spaulders that covered my torso appeared on my chest over a tight-fitting, black shirt with no sleeves. Black gloves with matte black steel plates on their back covered my hands and extended up to my elbows as a cloak materialized on my shoulders. I pulled the hood up as loose-fitting black pants covered my legs. Bandages secured them to my legs tightly near my ankles which led into black foot wraps that allowed me to move silently. Matte black greaves appeared on my shins over my pants and extended downwards to cover a part of the tops of my feet.

And of course, my trademark undershirt-mask remained as well.

Now, transforming at that point wasn't exactly what one would call necessary. But, my battle armor makes me look rather intimidating and rather badass. Considering how worried Romeo was for his dad he could use some reassurance, but Natsu and I couldn't exactly waste time consoling a small child. So instead, I settled for this.

And besides, what's more assuring than seeing a badass heading off to save your father?  
My transformation took no more than a moment, and when it completed the smoke surrounding me parted swiftly as I continued onwards. Natsu, used to this by now, was completely unfazed by my sudden change in attire and didn't even break his stride as it happened.

We eventually caught up to Romeo and Natsu placed his hand atop the small boy's head as he cried and ruffled his hair in a reassuring manner before we continued onwards, both of our faces fixed in grim looks of pure determination.

We eventually managed to book a carriage to Mt. Hakobe, despite it being on such short notice—people tend to make exceptions when known members of Fairy Tail insist that it's a life-or-death situation.

They also tend to make exceptions when Natsu threatens to burn their carriage down—we're so damn lucky Makarov never found out about that. It was at this time that Happy caught up with us.

Oh, and Lucy joined up too.

* * *

I sat on the same bench of the carriage as Lucy while Natsu lay splayed out on the bench opposite from us as he struggled with his immense motion sickness.

"My name's Lucy," she said while turning to face me, holding a hand out in greeting, "it's nice to meet you."

"The name's Naruto." I replied gruffly while shaking her hand before re-crossing my arms over my chest."

"Pardon me for asking, but what's with the mask on your face?"

I sat there silently for some time before responding, "It's a memento from my master."

"What happened to him?"

Needless to say, this is an extremely touchy subject for me, and I wasn't exactly happy about it being brought up.

"..." I turned to look Lucy directly in her eyes before stating in a monotone voice, "He died." as soon as I finished my statement I turned away from her.  
And, needless to say, I made the fact that I wasn't happy about it being brought up very apparent.

Lucy gasped loudly before immediately apologizing, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know." I could tell by her tone that she was genuinely sorry and I felt a slight twinge of guilt about the way I had acted.

I let out a deep sigh before replying, "Whatever, you couldn't have known. Let's just get some sleep while we can. I've got a feeling that tomorrow's going to be a long day." I closed my eyes, trying to follow my own advice, while she presumably did the same. Her breathing pattern shifted to that of a person who was asleep and, despite my best efforts, the constant movement of the carriage prevented me from falling asleep.

The next few hours passed uneventfully for me as everyone else was either passed out, Natsu suffering from motion sickness once again, or asleep. And the carriage driver and I weren't exactly on speaking terms after we had threatened to destroy his source of income.

* * *

"And so!" Lucy announced with a large smile on her face, "I'll visit Mira's house next time!"

"Don't steal her underwear and stuff, okay?" Happy responded from his spot on the floor near Natsu.

"Who would do that!" Lucy screamed in surprise and outrage as she turned to face the small cat.

"Why are you here anyway Lucy?" Natsu and Happy asked in unison while I turned towards her with a raised eyebrow that she could actually see due to the fact that I had pulled my hood back during our ride.

"What? Does it bother you?"

"Of course, a lot." Natsu replied.

"Aye." Happy chimed in.

"Because it's a chance." Lucy replied with a large smile on her face as sparkles surrounded her form, "I wanted to do something that'd help Fairy Tail."

And she obviously just wanted to improve her standing with the guild.

"But then, transportation really doesn't go well with you, does it?" she continued on, "I pity you."

"Huh?" Natsu replied.

"I need to find a place to live once we find Macao," she said changing the topic.

"You can live with Natsu and me." Happy offered.

"If you're seriously saying that, I'll pull out your whiskers, little kitty."

Natsu's eyes opened in surprise and joy as he suddenly jumped out of his seat, "It stopped!" he exclaimed happily.

"We're there?" Lucy questioned.

"I-I'm sorry," the carriage driver responded, "we can't go any further than this with the carriage."

Natsu threw the doors open, completely unbothered by the cold snow and vicious winds,

"What's going on!?" Lucy shouted as she moved to get out of the carriage while I stayed seated on the bench, "Even though it's up in the mountains it's summer time!" she shouted while regretting her decision to wear a short-sleeve shirt and a skirt, "It's weird to have a snowstorm like this!"

"Didn't you know that Mount Hakobe snows year-round?" I questioned while she shook her head no, "Sorry, not much we can do now." I stepped out of the carriage while channelling my magic power into my feet so that I could stand on the surface of the snow, rather than having my feet sink into the powder and soak my foot wraps. Afterwards I walked to the front of the carriage and gave the driver a large bonus as a gesture of gratitude. I asked him if he could come back up the next morning to take us home. He told me he'd see what he could do, but I wasn't exactly holding my breath.

"It's cold!" Lucy screamed as she stepped out of the carriage.

"That's cause you're wearing so little." Natsu responded.

"The same goes for you!" she screamed as my body was obscured by a cloud of smoke. My old attire was replaced by an arctic camouflage variant with a fur-lined cloak.

"Wha!?" Lucy gasped in surprise as she took in my new apparel, "How'd you do that?!"

"Magic." I replied nonchalantly.

"W-wait a minute," Lucy said while glancing around nervously, "where'd the carriage go?"

"Back to Magnolia obviously." I responded in a bored tone.

Lucy looked back at me and noticed that I was standing on the surface of the snow without sinking into it,"Wh-wha..." Lucy stammered with her jaw dropped to the ground, "How're you..."

"Magic."

"Arrrgh!" Lucy screamed in frustration, "I'm too cold to put up with this right now!" she turned to Natsu and grabbed onto the blanket on his pack like a lifeline, "Can I borrow that blanket?" she pleaded. Natsu nodded an affirmative and she immediately draped the blanket over her shoulders, "O-o-o," Lucy stammered due to her chattering teeth while holding a key in the air, "open...door of the clock," Lucy pointed the key forwards while shouting "Horologium!"  
A large grandfather clock with arms on its sides and a face with a quite curly mustache appeared in a bright flash of light.

"Whoa!" Natsu exclaimed in surprise and excitement, "It's a clock!" Lucy immediately climbed inside the clock in an attempt to stay warm.

She murmured something while inside the clock, prompting it to repeat what she had stated, "'I'll stay here,' she says."

"Natsu, get her up to speed while I scout ahead." Natsu nodded in affirmation and I dashed off ahead. As I ran I created a cross with the forefingers of each hand while a magic seal appeared beneath my feet and I whispered to myself, "Shadow Clone." A large plume of smoke appeared that, once it dissipated, revealed at least a dozen different clones of myself. "You guys know what to do, fan out and search for the Vulcan and Macao. The second that you find something pop to relay the information to the other clones." I made a sweeping gesture with my arm, "Go!" The second that the word left my lips the clones dashed off into the distance and were quickly obscured by the snowstorm. I stood silently and waited for Natsu and Lucy to catch up to me.

Within a few minutes they had caught up to me and we set off to search for Macao in a group. The snowstorm began to pick up shortly after our search started and Natsu's repeated shouts of Macao were barely audible over the howling wind.

We continued on in this method for multiple hours and visibility began to get even worse as the sky began to darken. I was about ready to call off the search for the night and seek shelter when one of my clones dispelled.

Apparently the vulcan was at the top of a cliff directly above us, and it had just jumped.

Yeah, not exactly an ideal situation.

Natsu current yell of Macao was cut off as I screamed, "Shit!" while shoving him off to the side. I glared upwards and saw a large, shadowy figure falling through the air directly above me which was obviously the aforementioned Vulcan.

I leapt backwards while requipping a large amount of kunai and shuriken in my hands. I immediately threw them at the beast while it was still in mid-air and cursed as most of my weapons were blown off-course by the winds and the few that did actually connect were only glancing blows.

The beast landed heavily in the snow caught completely off-guard by the sudden barrage of shuriken. While it only hesitated for a moment it gave me enough time to requip a tanto with a plain black hilt before it charged. The beast raced towards me and attempted to gore my body on the large horn atop its head. I spun out of the way at the last second and managed to hamstring the beast with my tanto as it charged past causing it to fall to the ground roughly as its leg gave out completely.  
As soon as it fell to the ground one of my clones fell from the sky and delivered a devastating drop kick to the beast's head knocking it out completely.

"Hey!" Natsu screamed as he popped out of the snow bank that I had shoved him into, "What was that for!" my only response was to point at the unconscious Vulcan lying beside me, "Oh." My clone popped which caused my mind to flood with a multitude of different memories as the rest of my clones popped as well.

"You could've at least let me get some action too." Natsu grumbled as he clambered out of the snow bank and began to brush himself off. "I mean..." he trailed off as the Vulcan began to glow brightly, "Uhhh," Natsu questioned while pointing at the Vulcan, "is it supposed to do that?"

I looked at the Vulcan in question as its form was obscured by a blinding flash of light causing me to shield my eyes so that I wasn't blinded. As the light disappeared I lowered my hands to see a heavily wounded Macao who was currently unconscious.

"The Vulcan must have used take-over magic on Macao. He looks pretty bad, but we can't treat his wounds out in the open." I stated. A plume of smoke appeared next to me as I created two clones, "Requip my emergency pack, set up the tent, and get the medical kit ready." I ordered before turning to Natsu, "Natsu! We need to keep his body temperature up so start radiating heat like crazy! Lucy! Do you know how to administer first aid?"

"'A little' she says."

"Good enough." I responded.

As soon as my clones had pitched the tent my clones and I gently lifted Macao into it before laying him down on the ground next to the medical kit.

"Lucy! Natsu! Get in here!" I shouted over the wind as I took off Macao's shirt to check for wounds.  
What I saw was exactly what I wasn't hoping for.

My eyebrows immediately shot up as I saw the heavily bleeding wound in Macao's side. "Shit!" I swore, "Natsu, raise your body temperature to give off more heat, but no fire! I'd rather not be roasted alive! Lucy get the fuck out of that clock so you can give me a hand!"

I began to inspect the wound on Macao's side and began to swear even more once I realized how deep it was. Despite the fact that the Vulcan had taken over his body and during that time he hadn't been bleeding out of his wound, the fact that the wound had remained untreated for an extended period of time had definitely weakened him greatly. Now that his body had reverted back to its normal form the wound had begun gushing blood at a frightening rate, and that was on top of the deep wound I had given him in his leg.

"Fuck!" I swore angrily, "We don't have time to deal with this and the wound on his leg—Natsu!"

"Yeah?"

"Cauterize the wound on his side. It's the only way to close his wound quickly enough for me to treat his leg as well before he loses too much blood."

"Alright." Natsu stood up and walked over to me before crouching down beside him and covering his hand in flames.

"Sorry old man, but this is the only way for us to stop the bleeding in time. Do it."

Natsu pressed his hand on the wound causing Macao to scream in utter agony, "This is all we can do now! Deal with it Macao!" Natsu screamed as he applied even more pressure while I held Macao down, "Don't die! Romeo's waiting for you!"

As soon as the wound in his side closed I rolled Macao over onto his chest gently so that I could treat the wound in the back of his right leg.

"All right, Natsu, Lucy, hold him down so he doesn't move. I'm sorry old man, but this is gonna hurt like crazy, I'm going to have to reattach the tendons in your leg before closing the wound so that it heals properly, and I'm going to have to disinfect it. Here goes nothing." I stated as I picked up one of the many medical tools laying beside me in the kit.

All that could be heard afterwards were Macao's screams drowning out the howling winds battering the outside of the tent.

* * *

I decided that it would be best to not move Macao until the morning, so we spent the rest of the night in the tent on Mt. Hakobe. Which, due to Natsu's radiant heat, was a lot more comfortable than it could have been.

I sat vigil over Macao while the others slept making it two sleepless nights in a row for me. While I could have made a clone to keep watch, they only last for a couple of hours at most, and burning through my magic reserves needlessly would be a bad idea. Especially if Macao's condition worsened during the night. So, I decided to just stay up the entire night.

Yay.

Despite my sleep deprivation I managed to keep a close watch on him throughout the entire night on pure willpower alone.

The time passed slowly, as it always does when doing something like this. But morning eventually came with no incident, thankfully. As Natsu and Lucy awoke I had them keep watch over Macao while I requipped a small tea kettle, a cup, and some herbs and began to brew a concoction that would help ease Macao's pain once he awoke.

* * *

"Ah!" I exclaimed once he finally woke up, "You're finally awake. Here," I said while handing him the cup of tea while one of my clones helped him sit up, "this should help with the pain. And believe me, it's probably for the best if you down it as quickly as possible."

Macao did as he was told and swallowed the cup of tea in one gulp before gagging due to the taste. He winced in pain as his hand went to his heavily bandaged side, "Shit," he swore, "what a shame. I got nineteen of them, but I was taken over by the twentieth. I'm angry at myself, damn it, how can I face Romeo?"

"Just be glad that you can go back to face him." I responded somberly as I stood up, "It was a close call last night, be thankful that you'll live to return to your son. Dealing with twenty Vulcans on your own is a difficult feat to accomplish, it could've happened to anyone." I then brushed off my pants before extending a hand to Macao, "Now let's get you back to your son, I'm sure he can't wait to see you."

Progress on our way back down Hakobe was slow, but thankfully the carriage driver was true to his word and showed up. Thank Kami he did, with Macao's leg there would've been no way for us to get back to Magnolia easily without his help.

* * *

Romeo looked up from his book as he noticed us slowly approaching him. As soon as he saw Macao being supported by Natsu and me with Lucy and Happy behind us his face lit up with a radiant smile and he ran towards us.

"Daddy," Romeo said with tears in his eyes, "I'm sorry...I—"

"I made you worry." Macao stated as he embraced his son, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay I'm the son of a mage."

"The next time those brats tease you, ask them if their old man can defeat nineteen monsters by himself! Okay?" Macao stated with a cocky grin on his face. A huge smile could be seen on Romeo's face as he cried tears of absolute joy.

"Natsu! Naruto! Happy! Thanks! And thanks to you too, Lucy!" Natsu and I nonchalantly waved over our shoulders while Lucy turned and waved goodbye to Romeo while smiling.

Once we made it back to the guild Makarov opened his mouth to ask me how Macao was, but it was evident by the smiles on Natsu and Lucy's face that he was fine. I realized that I hadn't told Macao to take it easy for a couple of weeks, but I decided it could wait as I sat down at the bar and promptly fell asleep to Mirajane's great amusement.

* * *

**AN: Well as you can see, if you've read any of my other stories, I'm trying something a little different this time. Let me know what you think, any and all constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Expect another update soon (I swear that this one will actually be on time) closely followed by an update to Justice Isn't Blind.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Well, I told you guys to expect an update soon, and here it is. Enjoy.**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail.

* * *

I sat at a secluded table in the back corner of the guildhall eating ramen peacefully without removing my mask, to the constant astonishment of my guildmates, while flipping absentmindedly through the newspaper.

That is, until Natsu interrupted me..

"Hey! Naruto!" Natsu shouted as he ran up to my table with a piece of paper in his hand, "I just found a job request for getting a book back from this one guy, Duke Everlue, since it's basically an infiltration mission I figured it'd be right up your alley! And get this, the reward is 200,000 jewels!"

"Not interested." I replied without even looking up from the newspaper causing Natsu's jaw to drop in surprise.

"What do you mean you're not interested! It's 200,000 jewels just to steal and destroy one lousy book!"

"I meant exactly what I said, I'm not interested. If you really need help that badly go ask Lucy, I heard that guy was looking to hire a blonde maid so there's your ticket in."

"Alright!" Natsu shouted as he began to sprint out of the guild, "Thanks for the help Naruto!"

"Whatever, "I sighed in exasperation, "just let me eat my ramen in peace." Little did I know that I had just inadvertently helped to create one of the most famous, more like infamous really, teams in Fairy Tail's history.

I continued to look through newspaper for a while, content with just relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere for a bit. But, eventually, after I had finished my ramen of course, I decided that it was time to go do some training. As I stood up I let Mirajane know that I was heading out into the woods to train before heading out of the guild.

* * *

I stood in an empty clearing in my battle gear while focusing my magic power, "_Alright,"_I thought, "_time to work on my magic sensory capabilities."_A magic seal appeared beneath my feet as I began to activate my magic, "Mass Shadow Clone." I whispered to myself as I was obscured by a massive cloud of smoke.  
The smoke dissipated to reveal hundreds of shadow clones that scattered into the numerous trees surrounding the clearing as I closed my eyes and tried to find my center. "_Alright," _I thought, "_now I just need to stretch my senses out and try to focus in on areas of high magic power concentration."_I ignored all of my other senses as I tried to strengthen my connection with nature's flow in an attempt to detect the ambient Eternano in the environment.

Now, let me say it outright that magic sensory is a ridiculously difficult skill to learn and is even more difficult to master. A few people, those lucky bastards, are born capable of sensing the magical presences of others, but the rest of us have to shed blood sweat and tears to gain the ability. And when I refer to sensing the magical presences of others, I'm referring to actually being capable of determining their location by their magical presence alone rather than just being capable of sensing their magical power.

Just about any mage can feel the magical presence of another mage if they release their magical power. But it takes true skill and a shitload of hard work to be able to determine someone's location when they're concealing their magic and to be capable of applying it in a combat situation.  
It's hard to explain how magical sensory works, but the best way I can put it is this. It's almost like the spatial awareness a person has for his own limbs how, even if they can't actually see their legs or their hands, they know where they are at all times. That's kind of how it works, it's not so much a clear-cut sense but a feeling you get as soon as someone with magical power enters your detection radius.

Which, leads me to another topic, everyone's detection radius is different. Some people, generally only those on the same level as the Ten Wizard Saints are capable of sensing every magical presence within a mile of themselves when they put their mind to it. Others, are only capable of sensing up to about five feet or so. Me? Well, at this point I could only sense up to roughly fifteen feet or so, but I was hoping to remedy that with some good ol' hellish training.

And speaking of which, let's get back to that. So, there I was, standing in the middle of a clearing with my eyes closed completely while trying desperately to sense my clones before they pummeled me. Thankfully it worked and I managed to sense a clone as soon as it came within fifteen feet of me. I requipped a couple shuriken and whipped one at my clone, hitting it and causing it to dispel.

I tried to ignore the memories of the clone but they still managed to interrupt my focus causing my magical senses to go to just about nil. I tried to regain my focus as quickly as I could but I failed to do so before getting decked by a clone I didn't sense.  
"_Shit!"_I thought as I quickly recovered from the blow and prevented myself from falling face first into the dirt, "_I've still got a long way to go."_

* * *

I slumped to the ground while leaning against a tree trunk after a long day of training. The sun had long since set and the once pristine clearing was now marred by craters and had multiple areas where the grass had been completely torn up. Broken tree limbs littered the area and aside from the tree I was currently leaning against almost all trees near the clearing had their trunks completely shattered covering the area with even more debris.  
About an hour or so into the training I had my clones split up into groups and do the same exercise to expedite my training. Thanks to that decision I had managed to crank up my detection range to roughly thirty feet in one day. I was pretty proud of myself.

"Heh," I chuckled slightly as I surveyed the damage that I had caused, "looks like I'll have to find a new area to train, again."

"Naruto!" a voice called out in the forest that I clearly recognized to be Mirajane's.

"Yeah?" I responded.

"There you are!" Mirajane exclaimed as she walked into the clearing, "I was worried sick about you!"

"You should know by now that I'm capable of taking care of myself." I responded, "I may not be an S-class mage like you, but I'm competent."

"I know, but it still worries me when you just run off unannounced like that."

And that statement immediately set off warning bells in my head.

You see, while I'm pretty much unknown by the public, I'm a little, and by little I mean extremely, infamous in certain circles. Circles that aren't exactly nice. Circles that send assassin's after you when you're infamous and they find out where you are. Which made my life a lot more complicated and difficult than it needed to be.  
Which also led me to be extremely paranoid. Paranoid to the point where I've told Mirajane to only interrupt my training in the instance of an emergency so that if someone masqueraded as her to get the jump on me, I would know. Paranoid to the point where I always have clones shadowing me in the trees. Paranoid to the point where I never use more than seventy-five percent of my magic power when I train in case someone attempts to kill me when I seem to be exhausted.

And, it was situations like this that made me very thankful for being paranoid.

"What can I say," I said while shrugging my shoulders as one of the clones that I had hiding in the trees snuck up on the imposter, "being unpredictable—"

"—is what's kept me alive for so long." the clone finished from behind her while holding a kunai knife to her throat.

"N-Naruto! What's the meaning of..."

"I have to admit," I interrupted her as I stood up from the ground, "I'm pretty impressed. You've mimicked her perfectly, but you slipped up. I always tell her when I go out to train." I chose to keep the fact that she's only supposed to interrupt me in an emergency to myself, "So I know for a fact that you aren't Mira. So just who the hell are you!" I screamed while pointing a finger at the imposter.

As soon as the doppelgänger knew that he was exposed he quickly dropped the act as the expression on Mirajane's face quickly morphed into one of the most vile grins I had ever seen. "Why don't you drop the illusion too." my clone suggested while digging the knife into his throat slightly, "An expression like that doesn't belong on Mirajane's face."

The assassin complied and dropped the illusion to reveal a tall man, taller than me, with short, spiky black hair with bandages wrapped around the lower half of his face. He wore a sleeveless black shirt and black pants with vertically striped hand and leg warmers and toeless ninja sandals.

"Just who the hell are you?" I questioned.

"Zabuza Momochi, also known as the Demon of the Hidden MIst."

"Shit!" I swore due to recognizing the name as my clone immediately slit the man's throat revealing it to be a water clone. While I hadn't recognized his appearance I remembered reading his name in the Bingo Book of a Missing-nin I had dealt with previously. This guy was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and was extremely good at what he did. Which was killing people. Which didn't exactly bode very well for my health in the near future.

Mist started rolling in and my clone and I immediately went back to back in an attempt to cover our blind spots. I quickly created more clones and silently thanked Kami that I had started making sure to leave at least twenty-five percent of my magic power untouched whenever I trained after the last assassination attempt.

"Let me guess," one of the clones that stood on the fringe of the group called out as the rest of my clones fell into a tight formation, "you're here for the scroll aren't you?"

"Yes," Zabuza's disembodied voice responded sounding as though it was coming from all throughout the clearing, "that's exactly why I'm here." As soon as he had finished speaking Zabuza appeared directly in front of the clone and decapitated it with his massive sword before it could even react. Then, just as suddenly as he had appeared, he vanished into the mist.

"_Alright," _I thought, "_he's obviously capable of requip magic because there's no way he could conceal a sword that's bigger than his body on his person." _I closed my eyes as I became one with nature's flow and started picking up the ambient Eternano in the surrounding area. "_I am so glad I decided to work on this today."_

Please note that if I hadn't decided to train that specific skill that day I would likely be dead right now.

My senses were muddled slightly due to the high concentration of Eternano in the mist, but I could still make out the magic signatures of my clones despite the fact that they were all masking their magic signatures so I hoped I would be capable of sensing my would-be assassin. Despite the fact that my detection range had expanded Zabuza was still outside of my range which meant that I had no idea where the fuck he was.

Several of the clones surrounding me transformed themselves into shuriken in preparation for my plan and to help conserve magic power by avoiding requipping them instead. And also, it's always good to have some clones laying around the battlefield disguised as shuriken or other miscellaneous objects.

Suddenly a mass of highly concentrated Eternano entered my detection range at high-speed and was heading straight for one of my clones. The second that Zabuza slowed down to decapitate the clone I threw the barrage of shuriken at him catching him slightly off guard. Rather than dodging the barrage of shuriken he instead raised the massive flat of his blade to block them causing me to smirk slightly.

Zabuza had fallen right into my trap.

While Zabuza was immobile I took in the details of his sword in an instant. The first thing that I took note of was that the sword was absolutely massive, it was clearly larger than its wielder and Zabuza was pretty damn tall to begin with. I also noticed that it had only one edge and there was perfect circle near the tip of the blade that was empty. I also noticed the blade's absence of a hilt and that near the area where the hilt should have been the edge formed a half circle that was perfect for decapitation.

"_Obviously this sword was built with assassinations in mind, my guess is that most people's necks fit perfectly into that half circle."_  
The shuriken that I had thrown clattered harmlessly off the flat of the blade until one of them transformed back into one of my clones mid-flight. It immediately slapped its palm against the blade and activated its requip magic as a magic seal appeared before a plume of smoke obscured the blade.  
When the smoke cleared to Zabuza's surprise and my joy the sword was nowhere to be found.

This, is the trap I was referring to earlier.

Zabuza immediately jumped backwards to distance himself from my numerous clones, "Wh-what just happened?" he questioned while trying to wrap his mind around what had just occurred.

"Simple," I replied, "there's a reason my requip magic is referred to as 'The Thief'. I liked your sword, so I stole it. It's as simple as that. And now," I stated while making certain that Zabuza was focused solely on myself and not my clones, "you're dead."

One of my clones appeared instantly behind Zabuza and kicked him sending him flying through the air towards myself. I held my hand out and requipped an insanely long nodachi into my right hand that impaled Zabuza straight through the heart as it appeared.

I smirked slightly underneath my mask, quite thankful to have made it out of the battle alive.

That is, until Zabuza's body dissolved into water.

"_Shit!" _I thought as Zabuza's laughter filled the area.

"Did you think you're the only ninja capable of misdirection brat?" Zabuza asked in a condescending tone as my clones and I once again took up a tight formation. I immediately dismissed the nodachi as it was singling me out from the rest of my clones and I switched places with one of my clones using Body Replacement just like Zabuza had done before. "I will admit, your little trick with the clones caught me off-guard. And I never would have expected someone would be capable of stealing other people's weapons with requip magic. But it was blatantly obvious that you were stalling for something, so I just switched places with a water clone. Nice try."

I shoved down my feeling of desperation and closed my eyes in to try and begin utilizing my magic sensory abilities once more. The slight panic I was experiencing only increased as my mind was flooded with the memories of my clones as they were taken out one by one.

Giving up on using my magic sensory I opened my eyes to find that all of my clones had been dispelled.

Aside from the ones that had transformed into shuriken that is.

I began to slowly inch towards where the shuriken lay hoping that Zabuza wouldn't catch on to what I was doing. I began to pump magic power to both my eyes and ears to push my senses even further as I tried to determine Zabuza's location.

I heard a slight rustling behind me and immediately dove forward narrowly dodging a katana that had been aimed directly for my head.  
"_Damn!" _I thought as I came out of my roll and requipped a katana of my own, "_That was way too close for comfort! And now I'm even further from my clones, and I don't have the magic power to summon any more. At this point my life depends—"_

My train of thought was broken as I once again had to dive out of the way of Zabuza's katana. I immediately spun around to face my attacker who was nowhere to be found. "_Alright, gotta stay calm."_I closed my eyes and began to focus solely on my hearing.

There was a slight rustle behind me followed by a the whoosh of a blade passing through the air. I sidestepped to avoid the vertical slash getting sliced on my left shoulder in the process. Ignoring the pain I spun around and launched a horizontal slash at Zabuza. Zabuza jumped backwards managing to avoid the strike before dashing back in and launching a decapitating strike at me.

I managed to duck beneath the blow before elbowing Zabuza in the gut knocking the wind out of him. I struck him with my katana leaving a gash on his torso that stretched from his left hip to his right shoulder. I slashed again but Zabuza sidestepped the blow before launching a vertical strike that threatened to cut me in half. I blocked the blow with my sword but I was forced to my knees by the strength of the blow.

Seizing his opportunity Zabuza delivered a devastating kick to my face that sent me flying. Zabuza lashed out and managed to score another hit with his blade on my right thigh that began bleeding profusely. I landed roughly on the ground before righting myself taking note that I had landed a few feet from the shuriken I had thrown earlier.

I smirked slightly as I held my katana out in front of myself. Zabuza charged me and once more tried to decapitate me. I ducked under the blow and thrust my blade forwards hoping to impale Zabuza.

The taller man managed to spin around the blow and launched a downward strike hoping to cut me in half. I sidestepped the blow and spun behind Zabuza hoping to strike him in the back with my katana.

Before I could make my swing Zabuza kicked me in the chest sending me tumbling across the ground. Zabuza leapt into the air with his katana pointed downwards in an attempt to spear me with the blade. I just barely rolled out of the way in time and got to my feet as he pulled his blade out of the ground.

I decided to take the initiative myself and sprinted towards Zabuza. We both swung our swords at the same time and sparks flew as the blades crashed into each other.

"Tch," Zabuza ground out as he began to push me backwards, "you're pretty good kid."

"You too." I replied while trying to halt my momentum as Zabuza continued to push me backwards. Zabuza gave a mighty push with his blade causing me to stumble backwards slightly and immediately slashed with his katana. The blade bit into my leather breastplate and cut right through it due to Zabuza's tremendous strength but I managed to come out unscathed. As I struggled to regain my footing Zabuza lashed out again and this time his blade cut right through my undershirt and left a large gash from my right shoulder to my left hip.

If it wasn't for the protective runes inscribed on the inside of that undershirt I might've died right there. As it was, the undershirt immediately repaired itself, and the healing runes began to kick in and started healing the large cut on my torso.

Zabuza attempted to cut me again but I leapt backwards to put some distance between the two of us. As I jumped through the air my breastplate fell off due to Zabuza having cut through the bindings that secured it to my chest. "_Note to self, get breastplate repaired. Also, don't initiate a power struggle, it'll just end badly."_Zabuza ran towards me and slashed vertically with one hand on his sword. I side-stepped the blow and narrowly ducked under a punch that was aimed for my face.

I went to sweep his legs with a kick but he jumped over it.

As expected.

I pushed off the ground and rose while spinning quickly with my blade outstretched scoring several large gashes on Zabuza's torso before he slammed his forearm into me sending me flying away. I quickly got to my feet and stared at Zabuza as he once again disappeared into the mist.

Realizing that I was only a few feet away from the shuriken I had thrown earlier I began slowly inching my way towards them. The tension began to mount after several moments passed with no sign of Zabuza. I had reached my goal and prayed to Kami that Zabuza didn't realize that the shuriken were actually clones.

In an attempt to throw him off, I began to bend down to pick some of them up when I heard a telltale rustle of cloth behind me. I immediately spun around and blocked the slash that threatened to cut me in half, but I was once again forced to my knees by the strength behind the blow.

Zabuza pulled his leg back once more to deliver another kick but the strike never came.

In a large puff of smoke three of my clones changed back to their normal form and immediately stabbed Zabuza in the chest with the knives that had been hidden in a secret compartment under the metal plates on my gloves. The force behind Zabuza's blade lessened and I spun out of the way of the blade while channeling all my remaining magic power into my arms. I launched a superpowered horizontal slash that completely separated Zabuza's torso from his legs causing him to fall to the ground roughly in two parts.

I watched Zabuza's body warily to see if he had switched with a water clone at the last second. I finally let out a sigh of relief when after thirty seconds Zabuza's body still hadn't dissolved into water. I dismissed my katana before picking up Zabuza's, which was quite nice, and ordered two of my clones to deal with Zabuza's body while the other helped me back towards Magnolia Town and Fairy Tail.

* * *

**AN: And there you have it, this chapter's shorter than the last, but it seemed like a good place to stop at. The next chapter should be longer, and as a result will take a bit longer to post. It should be up within the next two weeks or so.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: And I once more managed to actually stick to a deadline. And for those of you who would point out that since it's Sunday it's technically been three weeks, let me have my fun, it's close enough. Now, with that out of the way, please enjoy.**

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Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Naruto.

* * *

"Alright," I began while I stood outside of Fairy Tail, "you," I said while pointing at one of my clones, "head in there and get the medkit so we can bandage me up. And you two," I turned to face my other clones, "can help me up onto the roof so none of the other guild members see me like this." All of my clones nodded silently before working on their aforementioned tasks.

My clones slung my arms over their shoulders before walking towards the building and walking straight up its front wall. We reached the roof in no time and I sat roughly on the ground before putting a hand on the wound in my leg in an attempt to staunch the bleeding.

Within a minute or so my clone met us on the rooftop with the medkit. It laid out the medical supplies that would be needed to treat my wounds before it began disinfecting the equipment.

"Alright guys, you know what to do." One clone set to work disinfecting the wound in my right thigh while the other readied the needle they would use to stitch the wound closed. As soon as that was done they began the slow process of carefully stitching my cut flesh back together.

Which, isn't exactly the most comfortable sensation in the world. But at this point, I'd gotten pretty used to it.

* * *

"There." my clone said as it finished stitching the wound closed, "Now, let's see the cut on your shoulder." I slipped off my long-sleeved shirt to reveal my sleeveless undershirt that extended upwards to mask the lower half of my face. My clone began to tend to this wound as well when my clones and I heard the door to the roof open and close putting us on high alert.

It was none other than Mira.

Needless to say, after my recent experience, I was—_slightly_ paranoid.

"Naruto!" Mira called out as soon as she saw me seated on the ground with a clone tending to my wounds, "What happened?" Mira rushed towards me but came to a stop when my two remaining clones appeared directly in front of her.

"Naruto, seriously?" Mira exclaimed in exasperation, "Can't you tell it's me?"

"The phrase." the I responded in a tone that brooked no argument.

"The power to overcome reasoning is born from reasoning. Do whatever you think is right, that is the way of a Fairy Tail mage." both of my clones immediately stepped out of Mira's way as she rushed to my side.

"I can't believe you made me do that! What happened?" she demanded, nonplussed that I had doubted her identity.

"Sorry," I replied while grimacing slightly as my clone finished stitching my wound closed. "but after what happened I needed to make sure that you were actually who you appeared to be."

"What. Happened."

I let out a sigh as my clone began bandaging my leg, "An assassination attempt. They showed up transformed as you and tried to kill me."

Mira's eyes widened in shock as she gasped in astonishment.

"Thankfully, due to my paranoia, I was capable of discerning that they were a fake. If it hadn't been for that—well—I'd be dead right now." My clone began bandaging my shoulder as I continued, "They mimicked everything about you perfectly, your tone, manner of speech, body language—everything. Call me paranoid, but after something like that I needed to be absolutely certain that you were really, well, you."

"Why?" she asked.

"Huh?" I responded while turning to face her as she sat down next to me, "Well, there's this saying, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there aren't people trying to kill you."

"No, why is it that you come back to the guild injured like this all the time? Why are people trying to kill you all the time?"

"Mira, it's hardly all the time. This was the first attempt in the last few months."

"It happens way more often than it should." she replied, "You don't even have that big of a reputation! And to my knowledge, you've never even gone after a Dark Guild before."

"Mira, I—well—"

"Don't try to explain your way out of this one." she stated while looking me directly in the eye, "You don't have a large enough reputation to prompt Dark Guilds to want to kill you off. You're definitely strong enough to have a reputation, but since you always avoid things that'll earn you time in the spotlight half the people outside of our guild don't even know that you exist. So why is it that out of everyone in our entire guild, you're the one having to deal with constant assassination attempts?" My clones promptly dispelled themselves to get out of the awkward situation that I was stuck in.

Fucking traitors.

I was silent for a few moments before letting out a large sigh, this was something I would've rather avoided explaining. Unfortunately, Mira was one of the few people who could usually tell when I was lying. Not that I would want to lie to her, but sometimes the less people know, the better off they are.

Ignorance is bliss and all that.

And honestly, lying to her made me feel like—well—I honestly can't think of something to describe how guilty I feel when I lie to her. Especially because I know she realizes when I'm lying to her and she still lets me get away with it. She'll shoot me a fake smile while trying to hide the hurt in her eyes before busying herself with something, or someone, else.

Before Lisanna's death, things had always been rough, in a sibling rivalry kind of way, between the two of us. She had an overly aggressive and abrasive personality and would always pick fights with me when I just wanted to be left alone. I honestly don't know if it was just the way she was, or if it was her attempt to keep me from wallowing in my grief after my master's death.

But it worked.

She would get me so riled up that I would—at least for a time—forget about my master's death and live in the moment. And, while I hated to admit it at the time, she had become the sister that I never had.

Then Lisanna died—and everything changed.

The days following that incident were pretty bad. I did my best to comfort her, but there's only so much you can do when someone loses a loved one. So I sat with her, and I listened. Constantly. Every admission of guilt, every regret, every shattered dream. She shared everything with me, and through that tragedy our bond became stronger.

Which only added to my guilt over not being fully honest with her, or anyone else for that matter. She was never the same after Lisanna's death. Or anyone else in the guild for that matter. It changed a lot of us, especially the younger ones.

And while it hurt us greatly to lose her, it hardened us and made us strong.

Well, some of us. In Mira's case—well, to put it simply, losing her sister broke her. Seeing her sister die on one of her first S-Class jobs was—rough. Ever since that day she had been unable to use her Take-Over magic and lost her will to fight. After seeing what losing her sister had done to her, I vowed to never let another member of Fairy Tail die if I could help it.

But, I think it's about time we actually got back to what I was saying earlier.

"Mira," I began, "I understand that you feel betrayed when you know that I'm holding something back from you. And believe me, I feel guilty about it. But there are some things that you're just better off not knowing. I—"

I trailed off as Mira slapped me in the face before standing up and storming off.

"Mira!" I called out while standing up, "Wait!"

The door opened and slammed shut as she paid no heed whatsoever to my words. "_Great. Way to go Naruto, you really handled that one well."_ I thought sarcastically. I had fucked up, royally. I fell onto my back and laid on the roof splayed out while staring at the sky and contemplating just how I would go about fixing this mess.

* * *

For the next few days, despite my best efforts, Mira completely ignored me no matter what I did. I don't even recall her even saying an actual word to me for at least four days. If I ever tried to start a conversation all I would get was a "Hmph." before she would walk away. And, as time went on, I began to feel more and more guilt.

Eventually, I broke down and decided that for the sake of my conscience, I would have to tell her the truth. Which wasn't exactly something I was very excited about. Even with her, I had always played things pretty close to the chest. I had always kept most people at arm's-length.

Did I care about them? Hell yes. But I didn't exactly feel like opening up to them—for a multitude of reasons.

And old habits die hard.

Quite frankly, I was scared shitless about the coming talk with Mira, because—well—I had killed people. A lot of people.

With good reason of course, but even then, it wasn't exactly something that members of Fairy Tail looked favorably upon. But the people who I had to deal with, people like Zabuza, had to be killed. Because if they weren't, they'd just come back and try again. And all it would take is one slip-up for me or—Kami forbid—another guildmember to end up dead. Which was something I would really rather avoid.

It was why I tried to stay relatively anonymous. The less that I stuck out, the lower the chances of someone finding me. And being found less meant fewer assassination attempts, which meant putting my friends and myself in danger less. Therefore; the more famous I became, the more dangerous it became for my friends.

Which is quite the incentive to stay relatively unknown.

So basically, I had killed a lot of people for their sake. Which, knowing them, would make them dislike the deaths of those people even more since it was done in their name. But we all have to handle our own problems and take responsibility for our actions. And those people were there solely for me, making them my problem and my responsibility.

And I was going to make damn well sure that none of my friends were going to get hurt because I was unwilling to solve a problem permanently. The weight of the deaths of those countless men and women on my conscience was my burden to bear. And mine alone.

Or so I had thought.

* * *

I had sat at a relatively secluded table in the back of the guild for most of the day while quietly ruminating on just how to go about telling Mira the truth. It took almost the entire day, but I had finally formulated a rough speech that I was pleased with.

Once done, I contented myself with waiting until Mira was closing the guild down for the night to talk to her. That would help ensure that our conversation was private and that no one would butt in.

And it may have had something to do with the fact that I was still extremely hesitant to have this conversation with her.

The time passed slowly, as it always does when waiting, but eventually everyone aside from Mira and me had cleared out of the guild. Mira began to busy herself with locking things up behind the bar while still ignoring me.

I procrastinated for as long as I could, but I finally realized that if I didn't tell her then, I never would. I stood up from my seat and began to walk over to the bar as Mira finished up.

She glanced up at me momentarily before returning back to her work.

"Mira," I began hesitantly, "look, there's something I need to tell you."

She continued ignoring me.

"Mira—please—just listen to what I've got to say."

She stopped what she was doing and turned to face me, "Alright. What is it?"

"You've always been open with me—so it's time I returned the favor." I pulled out a small piece of paper with multiple runes written on it, a privacy seal, out of my pocket before slapping it onto the surface of the bar..

"It's a privacy seal," I said when I noticed Mira's quizzical expression, "that way I don't have to worry about eavesdroppers. No one outside the seal can hear us, and no one can enter it without my permission."

"Now, it goes without saying that I would prefer what I'm about to say to stay between the two of us. I'm pretty ashamed of some of this stuff, and nobody else knows. Not even the Old Geezer, and I would prefer to keep it that way."

I looked over at her and, while a little disconcerted by the fact that Makarov didn't know, she nodded in response.

"I'd rather save this for later, but it's probably best to just get it off of my chest now. I've killed people before—a lot of people. And before you ask, no it wasn't an accident. I killed them intentionally; I did it deliberately."

Mira stared at me in shock with her mouth agape, "But—why?"

"The assassins that come after me, don't get sent to jail. I kill them. Each and every one, because they give me no other choice. With the connections they have, if I sent them to jail they would just break out. And then they would come right back for revenge. They could fail an infinite number of times, but one failure, one slip-up, on my part would mean death.

And against those kinds of odds—no one wins. Not for a long time at least. Believe me—I've seen it for myself, and even if I did last that long it would eventually occur to them to just take someone hostage. There is no way I would ever let someone I care about get injured or killed because of me.

Which means I need to make it so that they can't harm anyone—permanently."

Her mouth had closed, but the stare remained.

"You have to understand, I'm not like everyone else in Fairy Tail. Or most other people really. Contrary to what I told you and everyone else, I'm not a thief and neither was my master.

I, am a Ninja.

There's an entire world out there that most people don't even know exists. And I'm a part of it. There are dangers out there that you couldn't even imagine and as a result of inheriting my master's legacy, I've been thrust right into it.

He gave his life protecting me, and just before he died he gave me the scroll containing all of his techniques and entrusted me with his dream. And as a result, I've got a target painted on my back that's the size of Fiore.

Ninja hoard information and different techniques jealously and covet the techniques of others. There have been entire wars started over techniques that are completely insignificant when compared to what's hidden within that scroll.

And I have to protect it.

Every Ninja on Earthland would commit genocide to get their hands on that thing, and I'm the only person standing between them and their goal. And my strength _doesn't even compare_ to the strength of some of the people in the Ninja world.

Right now, the only thing keeping me, and everyone else in Fairy Tail, alive is my anonymity. If word ever spread that I was here—I don't even want to think of what would happen.

That means, that anyone who finds me, who can exploit that information, has to die.

And believe me, maintaining that anonymity is ridiculously difficult. Ninjas are everywhere, there isn't a government that we haven't infiltrated and manipulated. That means I have to be very careful about what I do and say around other people. All the time.

One slip-up, and that's it. Game over.

Do you now understand why I've kept this a secret?

If someone ever heard any of this without understanding just how important it was to keep it a secret the consequences would be catastrophic. Fairy Tail wouldn't just be destroyed, it would be absolutely obliterated. This place would swarm with S-rank Ninja so fast that we wouldn't even know what had hit us.

Hell, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to consider the possibility of Magnolia getting wiped off the map completely."

Mira gasped in shock and disbelief.

"Entire wars have been waged without outsiders finding out, it wouldn't be much of a stretch for them to reduce an entire town to rubble in less than a day.

My master had a dream to end the violence of the Ninja world, and bring Earthland true peace. Not the façade that the populace is led to believe. Every day the Ninja world is on the verge of war, and I want to bring an end to that. But I can't do that if I'm dead. I'm nowhere near strong enough to accomplish my goal yet. Which means I need to wait, bide my time, and grow stronger. I know that what I'm trying to do may be difficult; impossible even.

But my master believed it could be done, so I will too.

If this secret gets out, my chance of success becomes zero. Can I trust you to keep it?"

Mira hesitated for some time. I could tell she was torn between whether she should keep my secret or tell Makarov.

On one hand, I was like a brother to her, and she was extremely loyal to those she cared about. I had trusted her with something I had never told anyone else before, and she wanted to show that my trust wasn't unfounded.

But at the same time, I was asking her to withhold information pertaining the safety of every member of Fairy Tail from Makarov. She was completely torn between the two, and I was asking her to pick me over the rest of the entire guild.

Including her real brother.

I felt a pang of guilt when I saw how conflicted she was in her eyes. And I felt even more guilty about what I was going to do.

"Mira— I—Look, I understand that I'm putting a lot of pressure on you. Forcing you to put me above the rest of the guild—isn't right. I get that. If you can't, or don't want to, decide I can wipe the entirety of this conversation from your mind, and it'll be like this conversation never even happened."

It was a complete lie, I was banking on the fact that she would be too torn to realize I was lying. And I was right.

True, I didn't know a spell that could wipe a recent event from a person's memory, and to my knowledge, no such spell even existed. But I did know Mira, and I knew that when presented with this choice she would agree to help me.

I had manipulated her, but I had no other choice. She was wavering and this _absolutely had to stay secret_. At least for a little while.

"No." she responded resolutely, "I'll keep your secret Naruto, but just promise me one thing."

"What is it?"

"Just stay safe, okay?" Mira walked around the bar and wrapped me in a tight embrace and buried her head in my chest, "I don't know what I would do without you."

I closed my eyes while returning the embrace as guilt ate away at my insides, "I'll try my best."

* * *

I stood in my usual spot next to the bar with my eyes closed as I listened to Mira and Natsu explaining Dark Guilds to Lucy. Over the past few days things between Mira and me had settled down. It had been a bit awkward at first which was to be expected. It's a little shocking to suddenly find out that a person you had known for years had killed dozens of people. But things had gone back to normal, and all was right with the world.

For now at least.

I had zoned out, but snapped back to attention when Gray chimed in on Natsu and Lucy's conversation.

"You don't have to force yourself to team up with anyone." Gray stated while sitting at a table in nothing but his boxers while smoking a cigarette. "I heard that you did an excellent job last time. I bet you'll get plenty of recruitment offers."

Proving Gray right, Loke stepped forward while offering Lucy his hand, "Lucy—would you like to make a love team with me? Just the two of us, tonight."

"No." Lucy responded.

"See?" Gray pointed out proudly, "Hell, after beating two mages from the Southern Wolves and a Gorilla-like woman I bet even Naruto wants you on his team!"

"No," I responded dryly, "I'm a team of one barring a few exceptions, and I intend to keep it that way."

"Besides," Lucy pointed out, slightly hurt by my rejection, "it wasn't even me who took them out, it was Natsu."

"It was you, bastard?!" Gray shouted as he stood up and grabbed Natsu by his scarf.

"Got a problem with it?!" Natsu responded angrily.

"Gray," Mira pointed out with a small smile on her face, "your outfit."

Gray immediately looked down and noticed his distinct lack of clothing aside from a pair of boxers, "Aaarrrgh!" he screamed in frustration, "I forgot it again!"

"What a pain in the ass." Natsu pointed out.

"Did you just call me a pain in the ass you flaming piece of shit?!"

"A massive pain in the ass, you perverted punk!"

Completely ignoring the growing altercation between Natsu and Gray, Loke made his move on Lucy.

Unfortunately, everything he said before the word "Right?" was completely drowned out by Natsu and Gray.

"What?!" Lucy exclaimed in confusion.

"Punk!" Natsu screamed as he tackled Gray and started punching him in the face.

"Bastard!" Gray screamed back as he shoved his hand into Natsu's face and began punching the pink haired teen.

"You're really beautiful." Loke continued, "Even looking through the dark shades of my sunglasses you're still so beautiful—if I looked at you with my naked eyes they'd probably shatter into pieces—ha ha."

"Then please take those off." Lucy responded bluntly. There was a small klink as Lucy shifted causing her keys to rattle. As a result Loke looked down and noticed them with widening eyes and a shocked expression on his face.

"Wuoooooh!" he screamed in fright while taking a step back, "You're a stellar spirit mage?!"

"She has the Bull and the Crab and others, too." Happy chimed in.

"What a quirk of fate!" Loke yelled as he turned around and began to sprint out of the guild, "Sorry! But this is the end of us!" he shouted over his shoulder.

"When was there ever an 'us'?" Lucy mumbled to herself confusedly.

"Tch, typical Loke." I commented with a small smirk on my face.

"What just happened?" Lucy questioned.

"Loke isn't very good at dealing with stellar spirit mages." Mira answered.

"Huh?"

"I bet something happened in the past involving a girl." I heard rapid footsteps approaching over the clamor of Gray and Natsu's continuing brawl, "Ah, he came back."

"Oh crap!" Loke screamed while breathing heavily, "Gray! Natsu!"

The pair immediately paused their fight before glaring at Loke, "Huh?" they both said at the same time.

"Erza is back!"

"What?!" they both screamed in absolute terror.

The entire building fell silent as the doors were thrown open and Erza strode into the room with a massive horn carried over her shoulder. She had long red hair and was wearing her usual combination of armor and a skirt with almost knee-high boots.

The members of the guild murmured quietly as she walked past them before setting the massive horn down on the floor with a loud thump. "I'm back." she stated, "Is master present at the moment?"

"Welcome back!" someone shouted with false enthusiasm, "Master's attending the regular meeting."

"I see—"

"E-Erza," a man questioned nervously, "what is that—humongous thing?"

"Hmm?" she responded, "This? The local townspeople decorated the horn of the demon that I subdued. It was so pretty that I brought it back as a souvenir. Will it be a nuisance?"

"N-No," he screeched while waving emphatically, completely terrified of earning her wrath, "not at all!"

"The horn of the demon that she subdued—huh." someone mumbled.

"Whoa—" someone else uttered in sheer awe.

"Anyway," Erza said seriously while stepping forwards, "guys, I heard you've been causing trouble again. Even if master forgives you, I won't."

"W-Who is she?" Lucy questioned completely confounded by the current situation.

"Erza!" Happy shouted in response, "She's really strong."

"Cana," Erza stated, "that's an inappropriate drinking posture. Vijeetir, if you're going to dance, do it outside. Wakaba your cigarette butts are all over the floor. Nab—are you still hanging around the Request Board? Pick a job already."

"You guys give me so much trouble," Erza sighed, "I won't say anything for today."

Lucy stared at her incredulously, obviously thinking she had said more than just a little. "Is she a disciplinary enforcer or something?" she whispered to Happy.

"She's Erza." the flying cat responded.

"By the way," Erza asked Happy, "are Natsu and Gray here?"

"Aye." the cat said while pointing towards the pair.

Erza looked over to see both boys with their arms slung over each other's shoulders while grasping each other's hand, "H-Hey Erza," Gray stuttered nervously while visibly shaking in fear, "w-we're b-being g-g-good to each other, as always."

"Aye."

"Natsu became like Happy!" Lucy shrieked in surprise hurting my ears.

"I see," Erza began, "best friends do fight once in a while, but I'd rather see you two being good to each other like that all the time."

"Ah—no...like I've been telling you all this time, we're not best friends or anything like that—

"Aye."

I plugged my ears in anticipation of the coming shriek, "I've never seen Natsu acting like this!"

"Both Natsu and Gray are scared of Erza." Mira explained to Lucy.

"Eh?!"

"Natsu picked a fight with her before and got beaten up."

"No way, that Natsu?!"

"And she found Gray walking around naked, and beat him up too."

"Oh my—"

"Loke was hitting on Erza and nearly got himself killed."

"Is Naruto afraid of her?"

"Nope."

"Wha?!"

"Due to the nature of Naruto's magic he's at an advantage when they fight. And besides, he's never done anything to cause her to beat him up."

"I see—"

"I'm right here you know." I responded.

"I'm happy to see that both of you are doing great." Erza continued, heedless of our conversation, "I actually have a favor to ask both of you."

My eyebrow shot up in surprise at this, Erza almost never asked for help.

"I heard something troubling at work. Usually I would consult master about this, but I regard this matter as urgent, so—"

Erza put her hands on her hips and stood resolutely before them, "I need your help." she stated seriously, "You'll come with me, right?"

"Eh?!" Gray shouted in surprise.

"Huh?!" Natsu exclaimed in a similar manner.

Erza turned to face me as well, "Naruto, I'll need your help as well."

"Alright." I responded. Erza had never teamed up with anyone before, if she was asking all three of us to help her out it had to be serious. Also, I had managed to not earn her wrath so far, and I didn't really feel like starting now."

Jaws around the room dropped as people began murmuring to each other about the strange occurrence. Most were quite obviously worried as to why Erza, someone who had completed multiple solo S-Class jobs, needed help with something.

"We'll leave tomorrow." Erza stated before beginning to walk away, "Prepare yourself. I'll tell you about the details on the way."

"Ah—no—wai..." Gray stammered.

"I never said I'd come!" Natsu screamed angrily.

"Erza, Natsu, Gray, and Naruto—" Mira muttered, "I never imagined this, but—it might very well be the strongest team in Fairy Tail."

I decided to head back to my place and get my stuff ready for tomorrow. If this had worried Erza to the point where she was asking for help, I figured that some preparation wouldn't be a bad idea.

* * *

I sat up in the rafters at the train station while waiting for Erza and the others to show up. Now, one may wonder about why I was up in the rafters rather than waiting on the ground on the normal person. But then again, normal people don't have to worry about assassins finding them constantly.

I still wanted to maintain a low profile, and the quickest way to gain notoriety is getting involved in one of Natsu and Gray's public fights. Lucy was the first to show up to my surprise, considering the fact that I didn't even know she would be tagging along. Apparently Mira sent her along thinking she could help mediate between Gray and Natsu to help keep them in check.

In my opinion, sending a relatively untested new guild member on a mission that was dangerous enough to worry Erza was an awful idea and I ended up discussing that with Mira once it was over.

She wasn't exactly pleased with me calling her out on it, and pointed out the fact that we needed someone to come along to help keep the collateral damage to a minimum. That is especially true with a team that consists of Erza, Gray, and Natsu who have a penchant for destruction like no other.

It was then that I pointed out that I had gone along with them and was quite, if not more, capable of keeping those three in check. And forced her to concede that sending Lucy was a bad idea. Especially when we ended up taking on an entire Dark Guild by ourselves.

I'm all for letting rookies prove themselves, but people shouldn't be put up against entire Dark Guilds while still cutting their teeth.

Eventually Natsu and Gray showed up and that's when things started to get hectic. They created quite a scene and fought for a while until Erza showed up with usual mountain of luggage. They talked for a bit and Natsu made Erza agree to duel him when we got back. Afterwards they stood around waiting for me, and I decided it was about time for me to "drop in".

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

I dropped from my perch on the rafters and landed in the middle of the group to their surprise. Lucy let out a frightened shriek as she jumped back, but thankfully I had the foresight to plug my ears in advance.

"Wha?!" Lucy screeched.

"I was up in the rafters."

"How long were you up there?!"

"A couple of hours." I saw her open her mouth to speak but I cut her off, "We should probably get going, the train's gonna leave soon."

"I agree." Erza stated before leading the way.

* * *

As soon as we entered the train we noticed a distinct problem—the seats weren't big enough for all of us. Seeing as the seat across the aisle from us was open it was easily remedied. I decided to_ take one for the team_ and sit in the open seat on my own.

Not that I minded.

Natsu began suffering from motion sickness the second that the train began moving. Like usual. The others were getting annoyed by him so Erza decided to use violence to solve the problem and knocked him out with a sucker punch to the gut.

Typical.

"That should ease him a little." she stated with a small smile on her face while she placed Natsu's head in her lap. Needless to say, Gray and Lucy's jaws dropped in astonishment.

"Now that I think about it," Lucy started, "I've never seen any other magic than Natsu's in Fairy Tail. What kind of magic do you use Erza?"

"Erza's magic is beautiful." Happy chipped in, "Plenty of blood came out at the end. Her opponent's blood." It was things like this that made wonder whether Natsu's cat was a sociopath. The fact that his name was Happy just made it more ironic.

"How is that beautiful?"

"It's nothing special," Erza disagreed, "I think Gray's magic is more beautiful."

"It is?" Gray questioned. He let out a small grunt as he slammed his right fist onto his left palm while activating his magic. Gray removed his right hand to reveal a sculpture of Fairy Tail's insignia made of ice in his palm.

"Wah!" Lucy shouted in astonishment and admiration.

"It's Ice Magic."

"Ice doesn't really fit you though."

"Who cares?"

There was a momentary silence before Lucy's eyes widened like she had just had a revelation of some sort. "Ice!" she shouted while looking at Gray before turning to Natsu, "Flame! Ah! No wonder you two don't get along!"

Which, might I point out, is completely false. I know of multiple, and very successful, two-man teams of people who use opposing elements. While it may seem to make sense that people who use opposing elements wouldn't get along, it's completely bogus.

"Is that so?" Erza questioned.

"Who cares about that!" Gray said in frustration while forcefully crossing his arms.

"Anyway," I said in an attempt to change the topic, "we should probably focus just what are we getting into Erza?"

Erza then began to explain that she had overheard some mages talking about this sealed magic called Lullaby. Which, to be honest, sounded pretty damn harmless. She then explained that they mentioned Erigor, it took a second, but then I remembered that he was the leader of a Dark Guild. Eisenwald to be specific. He was the so-called Shinigami.

Pfft, if he was a real Shinigami then he wouldn't have been caught performing assassination missions. Amateur.

Erza continued on about some other things but they weren't related to the mission so I just tuned them out. Deciding to get in a little training, I began to work on my magic sensory abilities. Which was how I managed to sense another relatively large magical presence on the train aside from us.

And the aura it exuded was absolutely sinister. Now, generally the magical presence that someone exudes mainly reflects the element or type of magic that they have an affinity for; however, there are a few things about their personality that can be gleaned from it. For example, Natsu's magical presence, when compared to other fire magic users, feels more wild and unrestrained. Which, reflects his hot-headedness, literally and metaphorically, quite well.

Now, I could tell pretty easily that this person specialized in some form of magic that was related to the Dark element. But on top of this, it exuded a certain ruthlessness and arrogance that just spelled trouble. I told the others that I had to go to the bathroom and began walking towards the bathrooms that would take me right past where I sensed it.

I surreptitiously glanced over where the person was sitting. Lo and behold, the man looked exactly like one of the mages that Erza had described. He had black hair that was pulled back into a spiky ponytail and was wearing a white jacket over a black tee-shirt.

I quickly looked away and continued on to the bathroom and closed the door behind me while quickly formulating a plan. I quickly made a shadow clone while I smothered my magical presence and used my Transformation magic to change my form.

Generally, the magical presence of a Shadow Clone is smaller than that of the original, but since I constantly suppress my magical presence all they have to do is not suppress it and it'll match mine perfectly.

My clone and I stood in there for a short period of time before it unlocked the door and headed back to the others. I quickly closed the door once more and waited for a bit before heading back into the same car as the dark mage and sat down a couple of seats behind him.

I kept my eye on him discreetly as the train pulled into the station and felt the magical presences of my clone and everyone but Natsu leave the train. The dark mage quickly stood up as the train began to move again and made his way into the same car as Natsu. I followed him at a fair distance and slipped into a seat as quickly as possible to avoid getting noticed.

He approached Natsu and sat down in the seat across from him before engaging him in some small talk. Natsu, still dealing with his motion sickness, wasn't exactly talkative.

The man then kicked Natsu in the face.

I wasn't happy about this.

The man continued to egg Natsu on who was at a distinct disadvantage. Then he made an unsavory comment about Fairy Tail, calling us flies.

I wasn't happy about this either.

He then proceeded to hit Natsu in the head while calling out "Fly swatting, fly swatting!" and then laughed at Natsu when he stood up to confront him but almost threw up due to his motion sickness. He then proceeded to use Shadow Magic to punch Natsu in the face sending him flying.

I wasn't happy about this at all.

He then proceeded to laugh at Natsu who was splayed across the ground.

I. Was. Not. Happy.

I was about to stand up when the train suddenly stopped causing the man's bag to fall to the floor and open up sending its contents everywhere. Among them was a flute with a three-eyed skull on the end of it. I had no idea what it was, but, due to his reaction when he realized Natsu had seen it, I assumed it was something that was either dangerous or illegal.

Natsu stood up and delivered a flaming punch to the man's face as payback for earlier sending him flying through the door, which was closed at the time, and into another car. "Fly punch!" Natsu called out mockingly while holding up his fist.

An announcement came on stating that the train would depart again and Natsu high-tailed it out of there before the train could start moving again. He jumped right out the window, which was closed at the time, to the man's astonishment.

"You picked a fight with Eisenwald! Don't think you can get away with it you pathetic fly!"

I was pissed.

And it was at this point I decided that I'd had enough. "Don't worry," I stated coldly as I stood up while dropping my transformation and releasing my magical presence, "this _pathetic fly_ will gladly fight you."

The fight was over in less than a minute.

* * *

**AN: And there you go, a little more details about Naruto's past and just how other Naruto characters are going to fit into the story. An believe me, we will be hearing from them later on. As of right now, Naruto is associated with no Hidden Village. Which is why it's so important to his well-being that he stays anonymous. And, as you can already see, the whole Eisenwald incident isn't going to play out like it did in canon. As always, any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Next update should be in around four weeks or so(JIB needs to get updated).  
**

**'Till then, this is Scotchtape27 signing off.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Well, here's the next chapter. There are a couple scenes written in third person as opposed to first because they work better from that point of view. I've never really attempted something like the last few scenes of this chapter, and as a result I'm a bit hesitant but I think they turned out okay. Any constructive criticism is appreciated especially when it comes to those few scenes.**

**And fair warning, there's some major mood whiplash at the end of the chapter.  
**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail.

* * *

The train came to a stop at Kunugi station as all of the civilian passengers, including the conductor, were forced of the train by the Eisenwald mages. Erigor strode onto the train with his scythe slung over his shoulder while his wild silver hair hid half of his face from view. Tribal tattoos covered his torso and extended to his shoulders and down his biceps. He had an elongated face with sharp features and a distinct lack of eyebrows. Dark lines rimmed his eyes making him look like an insomniac while matching tattoos jutted down from the bottom lids of his eyes. A tattered scarf was wrapped around his neck while he wore nothing to cover his torso. Bandages were wrapped around his forearms leading to black gloves that each bore a grey X on their back. He wore a multi-layered, tattered skirt that was reminiscent of a hakama on his lower half and wore a simple pair of sandals on his feet.

Erigor walked up to Kageyama, who was currently seated, before addressing him, "I heard you were gonna come back on this train so we've been waiting for you, Kageyama."

"I managed to break the seal." Kageyama replied with a small chuckle before handing the skull flute to Erigor, "This is it."

"I see, this is—this is the forbidden magic, Lullaby."

"Ohh!" the group of Eisenwald mages cheered in excitement.

"Good job Kage!"

"Now our plan is complete!"

"This flute was just a tool for 'murder by curse' at first," Erigor began, "but the great dark mage, Zeref, further developed this into a magical flute. Indeed— he created such a terrible thing. 'Mass-curse murder magic' Lullaby, that puts a death curse on everyone who hears its melody!"

"Really?" Kageyama questioned with a giant grin on his face, "Then I definitely can't let you guys get your hands on it."  
Kageyama leapt backwards out of his seat suddenly while making a handseal. The flute, Lullaby, was obscured by a small cloud of smoke while Kageyama's grin grew even wider. As the smoke cleared it revealed a simple stick with an explosive tag wrapped around it.

Erigor's eyes widened in surprise as the stick suddenly exploded with a bright flash into a large ball of intense flame while Kageyama cackled maniacally. "Grrraaaaaggghh!" he screamed in pain as his right hand was burned badly, "Kageyama! What's the meaning of this?!"

"Kageyama?" he replied while tilting his head to the side quizzically, "Why, I'm not Kageyama." The imposter requipped a plain tanto with a black hilt and a kunai knife before speaking once more, "I hear they call you Shinigami. Well, I think it's high time somebody showed you what a real God of Death is like."

With that, the man charged.

* * *

"Guys!" Naruto's clone shouted to the others while it and Gray rode on the roof of the magic four-wheel vehicle, "Boss just put his plan into action! We need to hurry!"

"On it!" Erza shouted as she increased their already break-neck pace even more.

"Waaagh!" Lucy screamed in fear, "Aren't we going fast enough already!"

"No!" Erza shouted in reply, "Naruto's life is on the line! If a guildmember died on a job that I was in charge of I'd never forgive myself!"

With that being said, the clone dispelled itself to let its master know his friends were on the way.

* * *

"_Good,"_ I thought, "_the others are on their way and my other clones are currently keeping the Rune Knights from interfering."_ I dodged to the left quickly to avoid a blow before slashing the offending mage that had tried to take me out. My I dashed through the train car in a veritable whirlwind of slashes and stabs as I easily weaved my way through the cluster of mages. The small space of the train car was working to my advantage greatly as they would end up just hurting themselves in their clumsy attempts to hit me. And all of their mages with long-range magic were hesitant to attack due to the large mass of people.

I knew this wouldn't last long though, there was a lot of them and the only reason the car hadn't been slice to bits yet was because Erigor was still trying to deal with his hand that had been burned by the explosion. He had a kind of ruthlessness that was to be feared and I wouldn't put it beneath him to start using lethal long-range magic despite the huge chance for taking out his own men.

The only mage who was causing me any real trouble at the moment was some weird guy who fought using these extendable bands on his fingers. He was capable of manipulating them freely and, as a result, was capable of making them weave through the massive throng of bodies after me.  
I continued taking out as many mages as I could while working my way towards the man and eventually got close enough to engage him in close-quarters combat. His eyes widened in surprise as came at him from below and attacked with a jumping slash. He fell back just far enough to avoid the blow but I spun in midair and threw my kunai at him.

The knife struck him in the shoulder and broke his concentration causing the bands to fall slack. I pressed my advantage and kicked him brutally in the head, knocking him out and sending him flying outside of the train car. It was at that moment that I turned to see Erigor, whose form was covered in what looked like a hurricane, readying his own magic.

"Shit!" I yelled as I dove out of the car as Erigor launched a massive wind blade that sliced through everything, including the train car itself. I dropped into a roll as I hit the ground outside of the train and glanced up to see Erigor rising into the sky as the members of Eisenwald that were in the other train cars poured out to surround me. I quickly requipped a bow and sent an arrow flying straight at Erigor, but it was knocked away by the winds covering him before it could do any damage.

Erigor looked down at me before swinging his arm in my direction and launched a barrage of wind blades that threatened to cut me to shreds. I quickly leapt to the side before going into a roll to dodge the barrage of magic launched at me by the other guild members. As I came to my feet I created a cluster of 5 shadow clones that all looked like Kageyama as well. We immediately scattered and charged their group as the mages we were racing towards began to backpedal as their allies bombarded us with magic. Two of my clones were dispelled before we even reached them and as we closed their close range fighters jumped out to engage us.

A man clumsily swung at me and I easily ducked under his blade before severing the tendons in his leg and moving on to the next mage. My clones were working just as quickly as I was and we began to quickly whittle away at their numbers. Things were turning back to my favor as the other mages were hesitating to attack to avoid friendly fire.

Then Erigor began bombarding us with wind blades in spite of the fact that we were surrounded by his guild members. I started weaving through their ranks as Erigor became more and more infuriated that he couldn't hit me.

The members of Eisenwald were killed all around me as the attacks meant for me hit them instead. The speed of Erigor's attacks sped up as he began accounting for my speed and he came very close to separating my head from my shoulders. I ducked under the blow before dropping my transformation which covered me in a cloud of smoke. The black leather breastplate and longsleeve shirt that I was wearing disappeared, leaving nothing but my sleeveless undershirt covering my torso. My footwraps and normal greaves were replaced by black steel greaves that were connected to leather sabatons with small wings extending back from the ankle. The black hooded cloak that covered my head was replaced by a tattered red scarf that was wrapped around my neck and extended down my back. This armor had no name, but I referred to it as my speed gear, as to why I called it that, well, that should be obvious.

I burst out of the cloud of smoke at a speed that rivaled Happy when he was flying at full speed. Erigor couldn't even hope to launch his attacks quick enough to hit me and began attacking haphazardly in an attempt to hit me with a lucky shot. I dodged around his attacks with ease while his subordinates began running for cover.

Then Erza and the gang showed up. "_It's about damn time."_ "You guys take care of the others!" I shouted at them as I raced towards Erigor, "I'll handle him!"

"No way!" Natsu shouted as he charged Erigor as well. He sent a barrage of wind blades at the Dragon Slayer that he barely dodged as I circled around to his back. I leapt into the air at high speed and aimed a kick at the back of his head, but as I neared the wind given off by his technique. My built up momentum allowed me to still make contact, but it was nowhere near as strong as it needed to be to knock him out.

He fell to the ground and landed flat on his face before quickly getting back to his feet. Natsu propelled himself forward by launching flames from his feet before trying to punch Erigor with a flame coated fist. The dark mage caught Natsu's fist with his hand as his wind put out the flames. I requipped a small hammer as I charged Erigor once more. My attack was slowed down once again, but the hammer still struck with enough force to crack some of his ribs. He winced in pain as I requipped another hammer and slammed it into the side of his knee causing it to become dislocated.

Erigor's concentration slipped causing his wind armor to weaken, Natsu capitalized on this and slammed a flame covered fist into his face. The dark mage was sent tumbling across the ground as I dashed off in pursuit. I jumped high into the air with both hammers raised high before swinging down and shattering both of the man's shoulders. He screamed in pain before I delivered a kick to his face to knock him out.

I glanced around to see that Erza, Gray, and Lucy had already finished dealing with the other mages and were heading towards me and Natsu.

"Took you guys long enough to show up." I said exasperatedly while dismissing the twin hammers I had requipped.

"We never would've left if you had told us that guy Erza talked about was on the train!" Lucy shouted back.

"It was a small enclosed area filled with civilians with no way to escape if things turned ugly. And given how destructive those three are, I didn't want to risk a confrontation."

That shut her up, for a few seconds at least.

"What about Lullaby?" Lucy questioned.

"I hid it on the train I'll go g—" I trailed off as the roof of one of the train cars exploded outward as a giant tree demon thing appeared.

My eyes widened as everyone's jaws dropped in surprise and horror.

"_Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me. And there go my hopes of handling this with any form of discretion."_

"Pathetic humans," the demon said with disdain, "they couldn't do anything right. I'm starving to death, so I'm gonna eat your souls."

"What?!" Natsu exclaimed while staring up at the abomination before turning to Gray, "Souls are edible?! Do they taste good?"

"How would I know?!" Gray yelled in response.

"What's going on?" Lucy questioned while shaking with fright, "What is this thing?"

"Well, it's a demon of some kind." I replied, " I'm assuming that's Lullaby, supposedly, Zeref messed with the flute. And turning a fucking flute of death into a demon sounds like something right up his alley."

"Zeref?! You mean Zeref from the ancient times?!" Gray shouted in surprise. I merely nodded in response.

"Hmmm," the demon said, "now, whose soul should I enjoy first?" It looked down at all of us before speaking once more, "I've decided. All of yours." It began letting out a shriek that could only be the death magic causing Natsu, Erza, Gray, and me to leap into action while Lucy tried to cover her ears.

Erza requipped her Heaven's Wheel armor before slicing clean through one of the demon's legs while Natsu scrambled up the other. I dashed towards the demon and ran up while summoning a multitude of clones that planted explosive tags all over its body as I ran over to Natsu. I grabbed him by his shoulder before spinning and throwing him straight up at the demon's face. He pulled his arm back and delivered a devastating fiery punch to its head causing it to stumble backwards.

"How impudent!" it yelled before launching a barrage of dark blasts out of its mouth. Natsu managed to dodge out of the way but the blasts were headed straight for Lucy who was caught by surprise. Gray leapt in front of her before shouting "Ice Make Shield!" at the top of his lungs. A massive formation of ice appeared in front of him that blocked the blasts and prevented them from harming her.

"Ice Make Lance!" Gray shouted causing the shield to break into ten pieces before launching them at the demon causing it to stagger backwards even more.

"I feel a little sick." Natsu complained as he clung to the demon's horn to keep from being thrown off.

"Now!" Gray shouted. Erza requiped her Black Wing Armor before flying up towards the demon with a sword drawn.

Natsu used his legs to hold onto one of the demon's horns while raising both of his hands, "A little flame on the right, a little flame on the left—and together they make, Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" he screamed while clasping both hands above his head surrounded by a giant ball of flame.

As Erza, Natsu, and Gray readied their attacks I dashed up the demon's chest while concentrating my magic power into my right hand to begin one of my master's signature techniques. It began to manifest as a swirling sphere of pure magical energy within my right hand that quickly swelled to the size of my torso. I leapt into the air next to Natsu and slammed the attack into the demon's face at the same time as him while shouting "Big Ball Rasengan!"

The attack absolutely obliterated one half of the demon's face while Natsu's massive flame exploded on the other half. At the same moment, Erza sliced clean through the monster's torso while Gray attacked its legs with his own technique. I quickly pushed off of the demon's body and pulled Natsu to safety with me while I detonated the explosive tags that had been placed all over its body.

As the demon began to topple backwards, still obscured by the smoke caused by the numerous explosions, I hoped that the tags I had placed had managed to break its body down enough to prevent it from causing too much damage.

Unfortunately that wasn't the case, and it's body remained, for the most part, intact. It fell backwards and landed on Kunugi station causing untold amounts of damage to it and the surrounding area.

Knowing that it would be a bad idea to stick around I immediately grabbed Natsu and Gray and dragged them back to the vehicle while my clones grabbed Lucy and Happy. One of them convinced Erza it would be a good idea to leave and she hopped into the back seat next to Lucy and Natsu as I attached the SE-Plug to myself before driving off as quickly as humanly possible.

Erza has a reputation for being a dangerous driver because she drives recklessly at high speeds. I on the other hand simply drive at recklessly high speeds, normally these vehicles top out somewhere between forty to sixty miles per hour. But there are a few ways you can..._push_ them to get them to go somewhere around eighty to ninety miles per hour. We averaged about one-hundred on our trip back to the guild.

It was totaled by the time our mad dash was finished.

* * *

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, word reached us that all the members of Eisenwald had been arrested—well, the ones that were still alive anyway. The Rune Knights were supposedly investigating the incident, but they already knew Fairy Tail was involved thanks to my clones informing them.

While I would've rather had no one figure out who had dealt with the situation in the first place, they would've figured out Fairy Tail's involvement eventually. And being charged with withholding information from the Rune Knights during an investigation would not be good for the guild. By some miracle I managed to avoid the spotlight for the most part despite being integral to taking down a giant fucking demon. They were more interested in interviewing Lucy and the other members of "Fairy Tail's strongest team", and I was perfectly happy to let them take the spotlight.

I preferred working in the shadows to protect Fiore rather than standing in the forefront.

But despite the fact that most of the media attention was directed towards them, there was this nagging feeling that I had played too important of a role in the incident for my participation to just get swept under the rug.

* * *

I jumped out of bed as the ground quaked and explosions rung outside my home. I immediately requipped my battle gear and ran outside to see just what the hell was going on.

As soon as I dashed out my door the scene that I was greeted with was pure, unadulterated carnage, chaos, and destruction.

Dead bodies littered the streets and I grimaced underneath my mask as the acrid smell of burnt hair and flesh mixed with that of smoke assaulted my nostrils. The buildings all around me were coated in flames and were spewing smoke everywhere which swirled thickly around me obscuring the streets which ran red with the blood of the innocents. I managed to spot numerous dark forms leaping across the rooftops through the smoke, and they were all heading towards the same destination.

Fairy Tail.

My form was hidden by a cloud of white smoke as I requipped my speed gear before rocketing off to Fairy Tail just under the speed of sound. My eyes watered as fear and anxiety allowed me to push my body to new limits reaching speeds I had never even dreamt possible. Within seconds I reached Fairy Tail—and my heart sank.

The guild was in ruins. Absolutely destroyed. Completely unrecognizable. I dashed into the ruined building fearing for the worst.

My fears were realized.

The dead bodies of my guild mates littered the hall. The wood floor was cratered, the walls were shattered, and very little remained off the roof. The giant form of the Ol—Makarov was pinned to one of the walls, and he was obviously dead.

Giant spikes of steel pinned his hands to the wall while similar spikes pinned his feet to the ground. Spikes pierced his eyes and the center of his brow as blood flowed in crimson rivers down his body. I fell to my knees in shock and noticed the decapitated head of Natsu lying on the ground beside me.

A shocked expression still marred his face.

I immediately pulled my mask down to uncover my face as I vomited all over the floor. I stood up while wiping my mouth and began to venture further into the guild. Part of me wanted to just run away and never turn back, but the possibility of someone—dear Kami, anyone— surviving this massacre drove me onwards.

There was no way that I was going to abandon one of my family in a hell-hole like this.

I continued carefully onwards to avoid stepping on any of the bodies that used to be my loved ones. Despite this, my foot slipped on a patch of blood that sent me falling face-first into what remained of Gray.

All four of his limbs had been severed from his torso and the wounds had been cauterized to force him to suffer. What remained of his chest was horribly burnt, to the point where it hadn't even blistered—it had begun to melt, and his face was melted so much that portions of his skull were visible where the skin had been melted off completely.

The only reason I was even capable of recognizing him was his necklace—and even that was melted to the point of partially fusing with his skin.

A little piece of me died that moment as I lifted my face up off of Gray's corpse. To see the people that I loved dead was nothing short of heartbreaking.

I glanced over to what remained of the bar to see Erza stabbed through the heart with her own sword. Blood streamed down her face from a kunai knife that had pierced her remaining organic eye. It was at that point that I realized all this pain, all this suffering that had been brought upon the ones that I loved—was all because of me...

I fell to the ground as tears streamed down my face and sobs wracked my body.

This—was all—my fault.

**Mine.**

* * *

Naruto laid on the ground, too consumed with guilt to go on.

Explosions still wracked Magnolia outside of the slaughterhouse that Fairy Tail had become, but the explosions went unnoticed by the blonde. Eventually, Naruto found the strength to pick himself back up and continue onwards. As he walked towards the back of the guild he found the decapitated and desecrated body of Lucy that was still, even in death, trying to reach her keys in a vain attempt to defend herself.

He quickly glanced away only to find Macao, the man he had recently saved, pinned to the wall by an arrow that pierced his left eye. Naruto gagged and almost vomited once more but managed to keep himself from retching.

Barely.

His hope of finding a survivor began to dwindle, and, with it, so too did his will to live begin to fade. He slowly trudged up the steps to the second floor of the guild, his boots squishing with the amount of blood they had absorbed.

What he found made his hopes soar.

Before him, Mirajane sat, with a fear-stricken visage, frozen alive in a clear mass of ice. Naruto walked slowly towards her before dropping to his knees in relief. He quickly requipped a pair of gloves that gave him the ability to generate flame, and had them gently radiate heat as he slowly extended his arm out. The glove rested gently on the mass of ice and there was gentle hiss as the ice began to melt slowly.

The ice, and Mirajane, suddenly shattered into a thousand pieces.

Naruto looked on in shock as his mind shattered just like the girl before him.

He was broken.

**Irreparably.**


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto shot up in his bed in a cold sweat. Within seconds he was dressed and out the door.

He raced down the streets of Magnolia as the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon with only one goal in mind. As the guild came within sight he felt relief swell in his chest.

The building was whole and untouched.

Naruto immediately slowed to a halt and hunched over with his hands on his knees, "Thank Kami," he sighed in relief, "it was just a dream."  
"Naruto!" a familiar voice called out, Naruto turned to see that it was none other than Mirajane, "What're you doing here this early?" she questioned as she walked up to the front doors of the guild and unlocked them before ushering him inside.

Naruto was silent for a few moments as he sat down in a chair and watched Mirajane begin preparing the bar for the day, hoping that she hadn't noticed how unsettled he had been moments before. "Oh," he started, "nothing in particular."

She immediately stopped what she was doing before standing up and levelling him with a serious look, "Naruto, you and I both know that's a complete lie. There hasn't been a single day where you showed up to the guild before ten, yet, for some reason, you showed up at six." Naruto looked away guiltily, "Not to mention I saw the way you were acting earlier."

Naruto froze while staring at a corner, not wanting to make eye contact. Mirajane walked over to Naruto before lifting his chin so that he looked her in the eye, "Naruto, what's wrong? I've never seen you look so unsettled before."

Naruto opened his mouth to speak but was cut off before he could begin, "And don't tell me it's nothing, something's obviously bothering you if you were willing to rush off to the guild this early in the morning."

Naruto glanced at the ground before sighing deeply, " It was n—just a bad dream." Mirajane gave the blond a look that cajoled him into continuing, "Everyone—Everyone was dead," he said in a shaky tone, "everyone but you. I tried to save you, but I ended up killing you instead." Naruto buried his face in his hands in grief, "And it was all my fault."

Mirajane placed a hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner, "I'm assuming this has something to do with the whole Eisenwald incident?"

Naruto nodded, "It was way too messy. If it had just been taking out Eisenwald it wouldn't have drawn too much attention given that we're Fairy Tail, but then one of Zeref's demons just had to materialize out of fucking nowhere in the middle of the damn station. Even if we're Fairy Tail, there's no way this is just going to be written off, loads of people saw the demon and they're going to want to know who took it down. Not to mention that I had to use clones to get people away, and keep the Rune Knights off my back. Word has to be spreading about a mage in Fairy Tail that's extremely competent, yet has no reputation whatsoever. That's definitely going to raise a few eyebrows, and the more attention that they pay attention to Fairy Tail, the more danger everyone else is in."

"Naruto, you're overreacting. This one incident isn't going to spell the end of Fairy Tail. For all you know, they might never even hear about it. I wouldn't be surprised if the Council covered up one of Zeref's demons reemerging."

"I'd like to believe that, but I highly doubt it. I wouldn't be surprised if Sorcerer Magazine was already working on a story about the 'Mystery Mage' of Fairy Tail."

"Well, is there even anything you can do about the situation? Because if you can't, then all you're doing is stressing yourself out over something you can't change, and that's not going to accomplish anything."

"You're right," he said contemplatively, "I need to just calm down and take a step back..." Naruto closed his eyes and spent several moments silently concentrating before his eyes snapped open. He stood up with a look of determination on his face and began to head for the door. "I've figured out what I need to do. Don't be surprised if I don't show up at the guild for a while, what I've got planned will take some time."

"And just what is it?"

Naruto stopped and turned to face Mirajane before speaking in a resolute tone, "I'm going to do what it takes to protect the ones that I love. Like I always have" Naruto walked over to the door and placed his hand on it before turning to face her once more, "I'm going to create a seal that encompasses all of Magnolia that will immediately alert me or, if I'm absent, Makarov of anyone who enters Magnolia with magic power and the intention of causing harm to Fairy Tail or its members."

Mirajane's jaw dropped in shock, "You plan on making a seal that large?!"

"Like I said," Naruto stated as he walked out the door while waving over his shoulder, "it's gonna take a while. See ya later."

* * *

Before my door had even shut behind me I began working on the most ambitious seal project I had ever attempted at the time. I immediately summoned a number of clones who set about gathering every scroll and book on sealing that I had in my collection while I requipped the scroll of my master. I walked over to the desk in my bedroom and set the scroll next to me as I placed a large sheet of paper on the desk. A pencil appeared in my hand as I sat down and began to create a preliminary version of the rune array I planned on placing around the entirety of Magnolia. My clones bustled about fetching any tome or scroll that I requested for reference while I had two looking over my shoulders to check my work for mistakes. It would be some time before I even thought of moving from that chair.

The time passed quickly, as it tends to do when one devotes all of their attention to a task. Four sleepless days passed without me even noticing before my work was interrupted by someone knocking loudly at my door.

I rose stiffly from the chair in front of my desk with my joints cracking as I walked to my door. I opened the door and squinted my eyes to protect them from the harsh glare of the midday sun. Standing before me was none other than Natsu.

"Naruto!" He shouted while thrusting his arms into the air, "F—"

I promptly slammed the door in his face before heading to the bathroom and then returning to my work.

* * *

Another day passed before my work was, once again, interrupted. I rose from my chair grumbling under my breath and stumbled blearily away from my desk as I heard someone knocking, in a more controlled manner than Natsu, at my door. I opened the door to find Makarov.

"Naruto," he began, "can I come in?"

"Sure." I replied as I held the door open and stepped aside to let him into my apartment. Makarov was the closest thing that I'd had to a father after my master died and was one of the kindest men I had ever meant. As a result, I afforded him a level of respect and patience that I gave to few others.  
I gestured for him to sit down on the small couch I had in my living room as I walked into my bedroom to grab my chair. I dragged it into the room and set it down across from him before sitting down.

Makarov sat silently for a few minutes as he slowly inspected my current state that I was keenly aware of. I hadn't slept for the past five days nor had I taken a shower. To put it simply, I looked like a mess.

"I came here because Mirajane asked me to check up on you. She told me that you had started working on a project of ridiculous proportions and was quite worried about you, and after seeing the state that you're in right now, I'm not exactly sure if that worry was unfounded. Tell me, have you even slept once these past five days?"

Knowing that my current appearance would betray me, I had no choice but to tell the truth, "No." I answered simply.

"Have you eaten?"

"Nope."

"And just what is it exactly that could command your attention to the point of not eating and sleeping for the greater part of a week?"

Well shit, I couldn't exactly tell him it was nothing now could I? And on top of that, if I did actually explain what I was working on it would raise some uncomfortable questions that I'd rather not answer. My mind raced as I tried to think of a logical excuse while my eyes darted around the room in a hunt for inspiration. I made eye contact with him, and just by the look on his face I could tell that he wasn't about to buy any lie that I could come up with. Beautiful, I manage to keep a secret for all this time and then within just a week of telling someone I find myself in a position where I'm probably going to have to explain it to someone else as well.  
Not to mention that when I explained it to Mira I had plenty of time to prepare what I was going to say to make it as palatable as possible to her. This time? No such luck, not to mention the fact that I had no idea how Makarov was going to react when he realized he had been harboring a killer in his guild for all these years. And the fact that I hadn't slept for five days wasn't doing me any favors either.

"I'm working on a sealing project." I answered hoping that he would leave it at that.

"I know that you've been known to work on seals from time to time, but you've never diverted this much attention towards it, nor have you ever spent this long working on one."

No such luck.

"It's complex and unlike anything I've ever even attempted before. As a result, it's taking a lot more focus and time to formulate." Which was completely true, I had never even dreamed of creating something like this before my conversation with Mira, but, as they say, necessity is the mother of invention.

"What is it? I'm not that knowledgeable in sealing magic, but I may be able to offer you some advice."

"It's a detection seal of a kind." I answered vaguely, "Normally it wouldn't be that difficult, but the parameters for activation are pretty specific and it's scope is giving me some problems."

"Just how large is it? And what are the parameters?" I let out a deep sigh, that was the final nail in the coffin. I'd have to explain just what it was that I was working on now.

"It's set to activate whenever someone who has enough magic power to be a threat and an intent to harm Fairy Tail crosses its border. And it's going to be large enough to surround the entirety of Magnolia."

Makarov's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "And why do you feel that you have to craft such a seal?"

I stared at the ground silently for some time before responding, "Fairy Tail's in danger."

"How?" One word, one damn word could very well end up damning me.

"It's—a long story." I said lamely.

Makarov's gaze hardened, he took things concerning the safety of Fairy Tail's members very seriously, "When it comes to matters like these, I have all the time in the world."

"There are a group of people after me, or more specifically this." I said as I made my master's scroll appear in the palm of my left hand, "It contains the knowledge of all my master's techniques that he passed on to me. And there are people out there who would kill for this kind of knowledge."

"And you doubt the strength of everyone else to stand up against these people?"

"It's not a matter of strength," I responded as my gaze hardened to match that of Makarov's, "they're a threat the likes of which Fairy Tail has never dealt with before. And you wouldn't understand that until it was too late."

"Then make me understand now."

"Look, Fairy Tail is one of the strongest guilds in Fiore, but these people aren't an enemy that you can defeat with brute strength. They move in the shadows and act silently, if they struck, everyone in the guild would be dead before they even knew what was happening. In a situation like that, even the strongest of mages, even you, will be helpless to defend himself let alone the things—the people—he cares about."

"And just who are they? Despite being one of the Ten Wizard Saints, I've never even heard of a group like this."

"That's because they, like me, are ninja."

Makarov's eyes narrowed immediately comprehending what being a ninja implicated, "So you're an assassin?"

"No, I am a ninja. There's a huge difference."

"Please enlighten me."

"Well, first off, ninja, the kind of ninja that I'm talking about, are completely secret. The only people who know of their existence that aren't a ninja themselves are the most powerful and influential individuals in all of Earthland. Secondly, we aren't mere 'assassins' ninja are much more deadly. There are entire branches of magic that are exclusive to ninja that a normal mage would never even have access to."

"Which explains the myriad tricks that you're capable of that I have never seen in any other mage I've ever known." Makarov stated as the puzzle pieces began to fall into place.

"Exactly, even the clone technique that I use so often is a skill that is exclusive to ninja."

"And these ninja are after you because of that scroll?"

"Yes, and they're not afraid of using hostages, or other methods, to get me to hand it over."

"Which is why you fear for the safety of everyone else in Fairy Tail."

"Yes, I've always tried to keep a low profile to prevent them from finding me, but after the whole Eisenwald fiasco some precautions need to be taken. Defeating one of Zeref's demons is too high profile of an event to not draw attention. Which, in turn, puts everyone around me in danger."

"So you're going to put a seal in place that will alert you whenever one of those people sets foot in Magnolia."

"And you," Makarov's eyebrows rose slightly, "if I'm away or if multiple people cross the seal, you'll be alerted."

"And why's that? I thought you said that even I stood no chance against this threat?"

"Not exactly, you only have no chance if they take you by surprise and assassinate you before you have a chance to react. If you're alerted and they have to fight you in a straight battle, there are very few people that could beat you. Especially if you use Fairy Law. This seal will take away their main advantage, the element of surprise. Once it's a fair fight, there is little doubt in my mind that Fairy Tail would win."

"A valid point, but there are a few things that are troubling me."

I flinched slightly, this part was going to be anything but pleasant, "And they are?"

"You said you're a ninja correct?"

"Yes."

"I'm assuming that means you've killed before."

"Yes, but only when necessary."

"And what do you deem as necessary?"

"Anytime a ninja finds me, they have to die. Aside from that, I'm content to let the legal system do its job."

"And why is that?"

"They have connections, if I threw them in jail they'd just break out. And they would know where I lived and that I could beat them in a straight fight. Those are two very dangerous facts to let an enemy ninja escape with. If they know they can't beat me they'll use another tactic, like a hostage, or they'll try to kill someone to get revenge and then kill me while I'm grieving. No matter what happens, if they get away with that kind of knowledge it won't end well. For anyone."

Makarov let out a deep sigh while pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, "Naruto, you know where Fairy Tail stands when it comes to killing people."

"I know, which is why I'm going to ask you to let me finish this seal before excommunicating me."

Makarov glanced up and looked me directly in the eye, "I'm not going to excommunicate you."

"Wha?" I gasped in shock, "But with Iv—"

"Those were different circumstances, from what you've told me, it sounds like you have no choice in the matter and you obviously care about the people around you in a way that my s—Ivan never did." I stared at Makarov with my mouth hanging open, "What? Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures. Every justification that you've given for your actions has related in one way or another to keeping the people you care about safe, while I don't exactly approve of your methods, you make some very valid points. .Although, I do have one more question for you"

"What is it?"

"What happens if they attack while both you and I are gone from the area?"

"...I honestly hadn't considered that."

* * *

**AN: After what I pulled last chapter I didn't want to leave you guys hanging for long, but at the same time, I didn't want to lessen its impact. While this may seem angsty, it shows a very important facet of Naruto's character. He's always used his anonymity as a shield to protect himself and the ones that he cares about, and it just got stripped away for the most part. Of course he's going to be scared shitless. And while he can do a great job of hiding that when he's awake, his subconscious is much more telling.  
**

**Also, for those of you asking for Naruto being paired with Erza, sorry but it's not happening. At least, not in the foreseeable future. As I said earlier Naruto is scared shitless right now because everyone who interacts with him gets a target painted on their back, anyone who becomes his significant other would have a target that's significantly larger. He isn't even going to contemplate a romantic relationship until he's confident that he will be capable of protecting them from danger.  
**

**Now, with that out of the way, any and all constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.  
**

**'Till next time, this is Scotchtape27 signing off.  
**


	6. Chapter 6

After a great deal of effort, and what seemed like an eternity, I had finally managed to craft the seal and then place it around the whole of Magnolia.  
To be perfectly honest, I was feeling pretty proud of myself.  
And the hypothetical situation of an attack occurring while both Makarov and I were absent had been dealt with as well.

Because Makarov informed Erza of everything. Without my permission.

Needless to say, I was not happy. But, the seal needed to be completed, so I shoved my anger aside, included her in the seal, and finished my work. It had been roughly two weeks since he had told her and I had finished a day ago. Now that I had actually gotten a normal amount of sleep, I decided it was about time I let Makarov know just how I felt about him disclosing that information without my permission.

As I said before, I was not happy. At all.

* * *

The doors to Fairy Tail's guild hall swung open with immense force before slamming into the walls with a resounding boom. A hushed silence fell upon the guild instantly as they all glanced to the door to see Naruto, his figure silhouetted by the noontide sun, with his foot still extended from kicking the entrance open. "Makarov!" the blond bellowed in barely contained rage, "Where the fuck are you?!"

Makarov, who had been sitting atop the bar while sipping casually from a mug, spit his drink out in surprise while looking towards the cause of the commotion. The man's eyes widened considerably before he rocketed off the bar and headed straight for the nearest exit that wasn't blocked by a murderous ninja.

"Get back here!" Naruto shouted as he immediately gave chase. The pair dashed through the guild like madmen before bursting out the back door and sprinting into the woods near the building. Makarov weaved his way through the densely packed forest with practiced ease, but Naruto had taken to the trees and was quickly gaining on the man from above.

Naruto soon overtook him and leapt down to land directly in front of the Master of Fairy Tail. Makarov skidded to a halt, to avoid colliding with the blond that had suddenly appeared before him, as Naruto levelled an angry glare at the man. "Why did you tell Erza without my permission?" he questioned.

"She's the most reliable and trustworthy S-Class mage that is at the guild often." Makarov responded, justifying his previous actions.

"And it didn't occur to you that you should ask me before telling people about my past? I told you about it under the impression that you would refrain from telling other people!"

"You were already busy enough to begin with, without having to deal with that as well. Besides, she was leaving for a mission soon and I didn't know if trying to add another person would force you to start over. I figured that the sooner we could include her, the better."

"Couldn't you have told me to add her to it, and then let me explain once I was done?"

"And what if an attack occurred while we were gone before you could adequately explain things to her? Putting this kind of thing off is just begging for something to go wrong."

Naruto let out a deep sigh, "Fair enough. Regardless, I still would've appreciated if you had told me first. And for future reference, unless otherwise indisposed, I'd prefer if you deferred explaining things to me."

"Of course." the diminutive man agreed amicably, "Now, why don't we head back to the guild?"

* * *

I sat quietly in a corner of the guild, taking advantage of the—relative—quiet caused by Natsu and Gray's absence. After working nonstop for the past two weeks it was nice to be able to just relax for awhile.

Mira flitted about the guild, bringing people their orders while socializing with the other members of the guild. Her face lit up with a bright smile as she laughed along with a few others. I couldn't help but smile slightly underneath my mask along with her. Feeling a little tired, I kicked my feet up onto the table before leaning back with my eyes closed in an attempt to take a short nap. Key word being attempt.

Despite still being exhausted from my previous endeavors I couldn't bring myself to fall asleep. After fifteen minutes I decided that nap wasn't going to happen and stood up. The lunch rush had begun to dwindle, and Mira had taken up her post behind the bar once more. I headed over and sat down on one of the stools before striking up a conversation with her.

We talked for awhile, enjoying each other's company. Our conversation drifted from mundane topics like the weather and how others in the guild were doing and few other relatively pointless things.

And then she told me that Natsu and Happy had stolen an S-Class job.

At first, I thought it was a joke. No one would be stupid enough to steal an S-Class job that they weren't ready for. But then I remembered, this is Natsu and Happy we're talking about. And while Natsu's great in a fight, he isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to common sense.

I was about ready to go after them, but Mira informed me that by the time I reached them it'd be too late to do anything. The fact that Erza had been sent after them when Gray hadn't been able to stop them made me a lot less worried. I had started to relax a little, what Natsu and Happy had done was idiotic, but at this point it seemed as though they'd come out unscathed. And then she let slip that Laxus had let them steal it.

My relatively relaxed mood was instantly replaced with pure, unadulterated fury.

Mira tried to get me to calm down, but there are certain things that make me angry like no other. Purposefully putting my friends in danger is one of them. Especially if the guilty party is a fellow guild member.

Doing something like that is a huge breach of trust, and while I may be a ninja, loyalty is something that I value very highly. My master had a saying that dealt with this kind of thing, something along the lines of, "Those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash." I had always thought of them as words to live by, and given Laxus's tendency to refer to others as trash, they seemed to fit this situation almost perfectly. I stormed out of the guild, determined to hunt down Laxus and teach him a lesson.

* * *

After about an hour or so, I managed to find him. During my hunt, my anger had grown more controlled, and, as I approached, I felt an almost detached sense of hatred for the man before me. If I truly had to explain it, it had gone from a roaring fire that threatened to consume everything near it, to a sharp blade of ice poised to strike down the one who had angered me.

Laxus must have sensed me coming because he turned to face me, but was caught completely off guard when I closed the distance between the two of us instantly.

"You let Natsu take an S-Class mission." I stated while grabbing Laxus by the front of his shirt.

"So what?" he responded haughtily.

"You _willingly_ let a fellow guild member endanger himself."

"Tch, if they can't take care of themselves, they don't deserve to be in the guild."

My eyes narrowed as I glared icily at Laxus, "If any of them don't come back, I'll kill you." I let go of Laxus before turning and walking away.

"Ha!" Laxus laughed heartily, "Like you could even hurt me!" I froze mid-step. A cloud of smoke obscured my form as I whirled around to face Laxus once more. The shirt that I was wearing disappeared along with my gloves leaving only my sleeveless undershirt on my torso. Silver gauntlets formed on my arms that encased the entirety of my limbs. Straps connected the portion that covered my forearm to the part that went from above my elbow up to my shoulder, allowing me to move my arms freely. A plate extended from the lower part of the gauntlet to protect my elbow when my arm was fully extended, and they were decorated with stylized lightning bolts as they sparked with blue electricity. I aptly referred to them as my Thunder Gauntlets. They had been one of the sealing projects my master had helped me with, and the unique seals inscribed on their underside allowed me turn any Magic Power channeled through them into electricity.

I latched onto Laxus's form once more, and he began laughing even more when he assumed that I was trying to harm him.

"How stupid are you?" he managed to get out between bouts of laughter, "There's no way you're going to be able to hurt me with those."

"If you're so full of yourself, turn into lightning and escape." I challenged.

His laughing stopped immediately and his eyes widened when he transformed his entire body into lightning, but still couldn't escape my grasp. "What the—"

Did I forget to mention they allow me to hold lighting? Well, they do.

"Not so funny now is it? How does it feel to see your most powerful tool rendered useless?" Laxus simply stared at me in shock. "Consider this a warning," I stated as I let him go and began walking away, "Makarov may be willing to let you get away with shit like this, but I'm not. If _any_ of them don't come back from this, consider your life forfeit."

This time, he took my threat seriously.

* * *

I trudged back to my house as the sun set behind me. Despite not doing anything all that strenuous, I was exhausted. Probably due to how little sleep I had been getting lately. My front door swung closed behind me as I walked into my living room before making my way to my bed. I threw myself onto it as I requipped clothes that were more comfortable before shutting my eyes and falling asleep.

* * *

The majority of Fairy Tail was not pleased with the state of their guild hall that morning. Someone had assaulted the place in the middle of the night. The entire building was ruined, but was somehow still miraculously standing despite the damage. Entire walls had been knocked down, and the courtyard in front was littered with numerous craters and debris.

Makarov managed to calm everyone down and ushered them into the basement, where they would be conducting business for the time being. They were tense at first, but eventually things began to return to normalcy somewhat. Though there were still screams of drunken outrage over what had happened.

But despite this, Makarov couldn't help but feel confused. Wasn't the whole point of Naruto's seal to prevent things like this from happening?

Realization quickly struck him.

He hadn't seen Naruto yet, and it was almost noon. Frantically, Makarov began glancing around the guild in an attempt to locate the familiar blond.

He wasn't there.

Growing more worried, Makarov made his way over to Mirajane to see if she had spotted him.

No luck.

And he hadn't left on a mission either. That meant the blond was either at his house, or he had been—

"_No!"_ Makarov shut that train of thought down immediately, "_This has Phantom Lord written all over it! This was, without a doubt, the work of Gajeel!" _It still didn't quell the growing sense of fear that was gnawing at his gut. "_But, what if he had been attacked the same night that this happened? Or maybe it was just a ploy? Frame Phantom Lord to make us waste time fighting them, and use the ensuing chaos to escape?"_

His sense of fear and panic grew.

"_There's nothing left but to check Naruto's home."_

With that, Makarov left.

* * *

Makarov pounded furiously on Naruto's front door.

He received no answer.

He pounded even harder.

Still no answer.

Taking a few steps back, Makarov dashed towards the door and broke it down. He grit his teeth as the wards that Naruto had place activated, sending a surge of electricity through him as a blast of wind slammed into him. Makarov skidded a few inches, but stood his ground. Once he was sure there were no more traps he continued into Naruto's apartment.

He found that the sheets had been thrown off the blond's bed hastily, but no actual sign of him.

Makarov's mind raced as he pieced together what had happened. Naruto had been sleeping when the seal activated and had raced off to confront someone. Which explained the craters that were in front of the guild. They had met there, fought.

And Naruto lost.

Makarov slowly returned to the guild, pondering just how he could go about rescuing Naruto. And if he was even still rescuable.

* * *

A large crowd had formed in the Southern Entrance Park of Magnolia, the majority of the people being Fairy Tail mages. And unlike this morning, they were more than just unhappy. They were furious.

Bound to the giant tree in the center of the park was none other than Naruto and Team Shadow Gear. Their clothes were torn, and their forms were battered and bruised. But they were alive.

Metal bands wrapped around their arms and were secured with large bolts, suspending them from the tree in a manner similar to that of a crucifix. And emblazoned up Levy's exposed stomach was the guild stamp of Phantom Lord.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the assault on their guild and their family had been perpetrated by a fellow guild. And Fairy Tail, as a whole, was extremely pissed.  
"Pardon me," Erza stated as she shoved her way through the civilians that made up a portion of the crowd while still in her pajamas. "I'm from the guild." Gray, Lucy, Natsu, and Happy weren't far behind.

Their jaws dropped in horror when they laid eyes upon the scene before them. Lucy's hand rose to cover her mouth in an attempt to stifle her gasp as Natsu grit his teeth in anger, emitting a low growl of rage.

"Levy..." Lucy muttered with tears beginning to form in her eyes.  
"Jet! Droy!" Gray screamed in shock. Erza stood quietly beside them, her body shaking with barely restrained fury.

Suddenly, a massive Magical Signature made itself known at the entrance of the park, causing a feeling of dread to wash over everyone in the surrounding area. The crowd turned to see who it was, before parting for the obviously enraged leader of Fairy Tail.

"Master..."

Makarov planted his staff firmly on the ground before glancing up at the tree, his face masked by shadows. He stood silently for a moment merely gazing, unmoving, at the injured members of his family. Makarov would be lying if he said a silent sigh of relief escaped his lips at that moment, "_At least he's still alive." _ he thought as he stared at the unconscious form of Naruto.

The moment was fleeting. Grief overtook Makarov at the sight of the people that he considered his family, even if they weren't related by blood,, and his face fell into his hand as his body shook.

This feeling too was fleeting, replaced with white-hot rage and a desire to make Phantom Lord suffer through the same pain that they had caused. His head still held within his hand, Makarov began to speak, "Destroying our shoddy bar I could deal with, but no parent can remain silent after seeing their children's blood." Makarov's wooden staff shattered under the force of his titanic grip. Makarov raised his head, with a look on his face that befit the embodiment of rage itself, "This means war."  
Phantom Lord had attacked Fairy Tail with no provocation, and it was time for them to reap what they sowed.

* * *

**AN: Well, there you have it. I tried to convey a sense of urgency and panic during those scenes with Makarov, but I'm not too sure about how well that worked out. Sorry about the reduced chapter length, but the holiday season is always pretty crazy and I haven't had as much time to write as I would've liked.**

**As always any and all constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.  
**

**'Till next time, this is Scotchtape27 signing off.  
**


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